


Wandering Stars

by McWords



Category: The Young Elites Series - Marie Lu, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Canon pronouns for Pidge, Fantasy discrimination, Galra Keith (Voltron), I didn't even realize, I'm sorry for not making anyone have two moms, Langst, Leyna is in high school and sometimes doesnt update because she is busy suffering, Leyna sucks at html, Loss of Limbs, M/M, Magic, Major injuries, McClain surname for Lance, Minor Injuries, Monday updates, Nonexistant boat knowledge, Or Dads, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Scars, Shitty foreshadowing, Sign Language, Swords, Young Elites inconsistencies, death mention, no betas we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2018-12-03 03:15:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 53,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11523384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/McWords/pseuds/McWords
Summary: A crossover fic for Voltron and the book series The Young Elites by Marie Lu. You don't have to have read the books, but you'll enjoy it much more if you have. Plus, the books are awesome.In a world that has been ripped apart by the blood fever- a sickness that leaves survivors with special marks- there are some who are gifted with an incredible power. These Young Elites are not revered, but hated for being marked, and the Galra Empire will do anything and everything to eradicate them and all othermalfettos. And yet, The Rose Society, a group of Elites who have survived not only the fever, but the wrath of the Empire refuse to let the prejudice go on.





	1. Origins

**Author's Note:**

> Wow guys, okay. This has been in the works since literally January 20th. Wandering Stars is seven months in the making, and I would like to first off thank everyone who offered to beta read for me (even though they all eventually quit). And second off, like to thank everyone who takes the time to read this because it means so much to me. I hope you enjoy it!

**“Each day means a new twenty-four hours. Each day means everything's possible again. You live in the moment, you die in the moment, you take it all one day at a time.”**  
**― Marie Lu, Legend**

Keith Kogane, July 12

It was unbelievably hot out. The sun seemed to be holding a grudge against me for some reason or another, because it had chosen one of my collection days to absolutely scorch the ground. There wasn’t a cloud in sight for miles, nor were there any people. I trudged through the sand, my feet aching and my back tired. From the looks of the sun, it seemed to be around noon, so I decided to start heading back home. As awful as this collection was, it was essential to my survival.

For years, I had been living on my own in the desert. My house was on the bank of a river, a few miles south of a small town at the northern point of Asapier. With the weak soil, there was no way to be a farmer out there. Out in the middle of that godforsaken desert, even plants that usually thrived in the sand had no chance of surviving. Practicing a trade was out of the picture for me as well, so for the past years, I trekked out into the desert every week, searching for goods or garbage left behind by travelers and selling them off to people in a nearby market. Most of the people that I sold to didn’t actually want whatever I was selling, but were more interested in the materials. From what I could tell, most of them tended to take objects so that the metal could be refined and reused. The amount of money I made was usually determined on the number of people who would stand to buy goods from a _malfetto_.

Right then, I was down on my luck. Not only was I having a hard time finding random junk, there was next to no one passing through the dusty old market. No one wanted to hike through the desert during the summer months. Merchants always took the longer route through the eastern mountains for the sake of keeping most of their goods intact. After all, I wasn’t the only one around here profiting off of wary travelers. Countless thieves littered the wastelands, robbing unsuspecting caravans with drivers that weren’t used to the heat. I always made sure to stay armed wherever I went. Luckily, I had the fortune of being completely alone for all of today’s trip. I pulled out my old, rusty compass and nearly dropped it as the metal burned my hand. My bag jostled against my back as I wrapped the compass in cloth and shook away the burning sensation in my hand. My eye followed the arrow as I pointed it towards the direction of my home. As I climbed the dunes, the scrap in my bag clanged and only grew heavier with the heat.

It took me the rest of the day to return to my pitiful little shack. As soon as I walked through the door, I tossed my heavy sack onto the ground and flopped down into the cot I had put in the corner. I removed my white head wrap and face mask, taking a deep breath. The air was dusty, just like it was everywhere else, but it had an air of familiarity that I could never replace. 

The random things I had picked up from the desert were pretty standard. I got out a bowl of water and a cloth, beginning to clean them up one by one. A pair of glasses, a silver necklace, some bronze bracelets. The leather reins of a long-gone horse, a small figurine shaped like an an animal from one of the northern nations. A silver mirror. I didn’t think twice about it when I picked it up, but as I cleaned it off, it sparked my interest. Shiny metal, ornately carved into what looked like snakes around the mirror’s handle, creeping up the sides and meeting with their heads upturned at the top. It had been awhile since I had come across a mirror, so I took a few moments to look over my reflection. Unsurprisingly, t hadn’t changed very much. I took off my eye patch and put my hair down. The scar of what used to be my right eye brought back memories of the past. 

Six years ago, the blood fever ripped through Asapier. It was awful. The fever was fatal to everyone over the age of eighteen. Those younger sometimes survived, but just barely. Before the fever, the country had been thriving. Trade was blossoming and the population was shooting up, but as soon as the government leaders began contracting the fever, things began to break apart. Thousands upon thousands died, and society collapsed. The population was severely diminished, leaving only those who hadn’t gotten sick and the few children who lived through the fever. At the time, those children were considered lucky. None of them had survived without some sort of marking visible on their body, but they had still made it. As time went on though, and people began to collect themselves together once again, the stigma surrounding the marked, or now named _malfettos_ , began to build. They began to be used as scapegoats for the blood fever and all of its aftermath. Although the lack of a central government made it hard for _malfettos_ to be persecuted like they were in some southern nations, many cities in Asapier began to instill laws keeping _malfettos_ from starting businesses or being hired. Homeless _malfettos_ would often be thrown in prison or killed by people who would never be punished. Being alive, in and of itself, was terrifying.

I was thirteen when the blood fever hit. It infected my eye first, and to save me, an amateur doctor performed an operation and removed my right eye. I still remember passing out from the blinding pain as he cut into my eye socket. The fever eventually went away, leaving silver streaks in my otherwise dark hair. It seemed like everything would be fine, until my father contracted the fever too. It was guaranteed that he wouldn’t survive, so he left his few prized possessions with me before he died. I was devastated. I’d never known my mother, and my dad had no relatives, so from then on, I was all on my own. When the laws against _malfettos_ became more common, I began to wear an eye patch to cover my scar and wrapped my hair up.

I set the mirror down and sighed. Outside of my window, the sun began to set, leaving a reddish glow on the horizon. I knew I couldn’t live like this forever, and I always promised myself that the next day would be better, but I was beginning to have my doubts. Maybe tomorrow would be the day. Yeah, right.

Of course, because that’s how things worked in the real world. One day, you’d be sitting around miserably in your worthless little hut, and the next day, some magical and otherworldly being would show up, and you’d go on amazing adventures for the rest of your life. It was unrealistic. A stupid fantasy that I’d held onto since childhood. And yet, despite how unrealistic it was, I couldn’t help but wake up every day hoping for a better life. Something more exciting, or even something that was just safer. Despite everything that I had experienced throughout my life, some sliver of optimism deep inside of me got me out of bed in the morning and kept me kicking.

I woke up with the sun shining in my eye. It was time to get going. I washed my face with some water and ate some bread before going outside to the market to set up shop. Even at such an early hour as this, people were bustling about on the streets, pulling stubborn camels and doing their best not to get mugged. I sat down on the tarp I had laid out, tugging down my eye patch and pulling my hair back with a piece of string. As a final touch, I draped white cloth over my head to disguise my hair. Luckily, my coverings blended right in in the desert. Many travelers and merchants used head wraps to keep the sun off of their face, so no one looked twice at mine.

It was about an hour by the time anyone finally stopped by. It was only a few men, riding camels and dragging a caravan behind them. Merchants most likely. Good customers, as they often had full purses, but not as easy to trick into overestimating the value of something. 

“Hello, there!” I called out. Despite having done this for years, the polite, friendly attitude I had to use was hard for me to pull off. One of the men turned his head and called the attention of the others to me. Two of them redirected their camels to ride towards me, and the other stayed back to guard the caravan.

“Can I interest you in any of the fine goods I have here?” The man scratched his beard and bent down to look at the mess of objects displayed. “How about this lovely copper spyglass?” The second man picked up the spyglass and used it to look around.

“Don’t bother with this one,” he told the first man. “It doesn’t even work!” I knew that wasn’t true, but the man wasn’t paying attention anyways. 

“Here,” he said. “How’s about I give you five gold talents for these three necklaces here.” There were three nice golden necklaces in one of his hands and a few coins in the other. 

“Oh, sir,” I replied with a sweet tone. “Being such a fine merchant, you should surely know that necklaces as fine as these are worth at least ten.”

“Hmm, instead of that…” The man shared a look with the friend next to him. “How about you take seven, and me and my buddy here will refrain from smashing your head in.” The two stepped forward threateningly, but I just frowned.

I withdrew a small dagger from the waistband of my pants and gestured in their direction with it. “As much as I love the sound of that… maybe we can settle on 20 gold talents and I’ll let you boys keep your facial features.” The man snarled, but backed away, shoving money into my hand and trudging off to his caravan, his friend following closely behind. “Good riddance,” I whispered. 

I glanced down at the spyglass left in the sand. There’s no way this thing could’ve been broken. I had picked it up just last week and it was working perfectly. The metal made a small grating sound as I extended the instrument and peered through it. I span in a small circle, glancing over the horizon. Bullshit. It was working just fine! I could even see the...the...what _was_ that? A small dot seemed to be crawling across the barren land coming from the south. I zoomed in, and it... it seemed to be a person! I couldn’t tell who it was from far away, but whoever they were, they were having a hard time getting anywhere.

I could tell this guy was in trouble, but what was _I_ supposed to do? I couldn’t just leave my stuff here with all of these people around. But if the guy ended up dying or something, I would never let myself get over it. It was hard enough feeling like my father’s death was my fault, I didn’t need a body count of guilt racking up on me. I threw down the spyglass, letting it hit the sand with a dull thud. The tarp, luckily, wasn’t very big and I could gather all of my things inside of it and tie it up. I pulled the makeshift bag over my shoulder, and in a moment of dumb spontaneity, I took off running. 

Unfortunately for me, the day was no cooler than the one before it. I was sweating through my thin shirt and robes in no time. I barely registered my eyepatch slipping off and falling around my neck as my feet struggled to find traction in the thin sand. As I got closer, I noticed it was a man in ripped up clothing. He had a patch of white hair and a scar across his nose. Upon seeing me, he froze and fell back. 

“Hey, hey! I’m here to help you, come on!” I picked up the man’s arm and flung it around my shoulder and began to drag him alongside me. It wasn’t until I took a second glance at the wrangled man that I saw the dark purple mark across his eye. _Another malfetto. Someone like me._ “Stay with me here, buddy! What’s your name?” I vaguely remembered someone saying that when you were trying to keep someone from passing out, you had to ask them questions.

When the man tried to speak, coughs wracked his body and I nearly regretted asking him the question. But between all of the coughs, he managed to get out a single word. “Shiro.”

“Okay Shiro, hold on here, we’re gonna get you somewhere safe.” I dragged Shiro all the way back to my shack, setting him down onto my cot. It was all for nothing, the man was out cold- or, well- hot. I rummaged through my house finding a clean rag and dipping it in water to drape across the man’s forehead. I fanned his face with a piece of paper until he seemed to have cooled down significantly. He still had a pulse, and his breathing was okay, if a bit labored. I deemed it safe to go back out to the market. 

The only customers I had coming by were a few merchants, a young couple traveling north, and an old priest on a missionary. Overall, the turnout was pretty average. I rolled everything into the tarp and brought my things back home. I looked at the unconscious man on my bed and sighed, piling up a blanket in the corner and going to sleep.

* * *

Takashi Shirogane, July 14

_It was cold. Unbearably so. The air around me was freezing as I tried to see through the thick fog surrounding everything. I walked forward, it became harder to breathe. Every breath grew increasingly labored, and it felt as though I was under water, unable to reach the surface. The solid ground beneath my feet seemed to be the only constant in this flurry of confusion and pain. I tried to keep track of where I was going and where I’d been, but to no avail. Everything looked the same. No matter how far I walked or ran or crawled, it would all be the same. The same loop of time and space replaying over and over, trapping me in my own senses. My lungs seemed to rebel against me as I coughed. With every shake of my body, I felt the overwhelming pressure grow and grow. When I coughed again, I felt blood enter my mouth and immediately spit it out onto the ground where it disappeared moments later. Suddenly, I felt a sense of loss. As if something was missing. And then I saw it. My right arm...was gone. I didn’t remember losing it. In fact, I didn’t remember anything. But it didn’t matter. I had to keep moving. If I was moving, I was alive. It was hours, maybe years, before I was able to make anything out. In front of me, I saw the faintest silhouette. It filled me with hope...and terror. Against my better judgement, I ran toward it. It got bigger and bigger, horrifyingly so. I met the eyes of the figure, and it all came rushing back. Before I could make any sense of my memories, they were gone again, but the face smiling grimly before me was a face I could never forget, not in life or in death. Zarkon._

I gasped and shot up in my bed, breathing rapidly. I scanned my surroundings- no Zarkon, thank gods. Only dusty wooden walls, a cracked window, and...a boy. Well I guess I couldn’t call him a boy, he seemed nearly the same age as me, but the look of peace on his face while he slept took years off his appearance. Although the large scar over his right eye could’ve nearly cancelled it out. A piece of cloth fell off of my forehead and onto the sandy cot beneath me. I reached out to catch it, but in doing so, realized that not all of my dream was fiction. My right arm _was_ missing. The only thing left in its place was a small stump of shoulder, but I could’ve sworn that I still felt it. My elbow bending and my fingers clenching. I swore I could’ve picked the rag up, but there was nothing there. It was jarring.

I stood up, the floorboards creaking as I did so. The boy’s eye immediately shot open, and he jumped up, clutching at a knife and looking around, searching for the phantom intruder. When he saw me, his eye softened and he lowered his arms. “Oh, it’s you... are you okay? You probably shouldn’t be standing.” He put his hand on my shoulders, softly pushing me so I was sitting back down on the cot. 

“Wait, what...who are you?” I asked. This, for some reason seemed to be the wrong answer because the boy’s face scrunched up in confusion. 

“Do you remember anything from yesterday?” I shook my head and let out a small laugh.

“I don’t think I remember anything from the past three years.” The boy met my eyes for a second before looking down at the floor. “Well, my name’s Takashi Shirogane. You can call me Shiro.“ This made the boy smile. I reached out with my right arm, but after realizing that this was indeed, not an option, I opted for my left.

“I’m Keith. Kogane.” Keith shook my hand firmly. 

“Okay, Keith Kogane. How’s about we get down to figuring out how I got here.”

* * *

Lance McClain, July 15

The air around me was hot. So, so hot. The salt spray blew into my eyes as I leaned against the damp wood at the head of the ship. The ocean sure was lonely. There were no clouds in sight, and nothing but deep blue water for miles. My parents sent me off on this ship five months ago, yet the majority of the crew still refused to speak to me. For the first few days, I had been very confused, and did everything I could to try and just have a conversation with one of the crew members. Eventually I just gave up and settled into my loneliness. By now, I had become accustomed to getting lost in my thoughts. 

With the increasing Galra presence in southeast Asapier, it had become more and more dangerous for _malfettos_ like me to even exist. Even though I lived in the west, I’d heard plenty about _malfettos_ being arrested for little to no reason, and then being executed in one brutal way or another. If most of the stories were true, the executions were public. Hundreds of people would show up in the town square to watch their own sons and daughters hung or burned at the stake. It was awful. 

I had been living with my parents and siblings for all of my life. My parents were both merchants that were rather well off. I was the second oldest of seven children, yet there always used to be enough to go around. Recently...not as much. The blood fever hit our family hard, taking two of my siblings, one older and one younger. It also graced us with three _malfettos_ , including me. I ended up being the oldest, and taking care of my four younger siblings as if I was a third parent. My help had been greatly needed, due to the large medical bills our family had been left with after the fever. My parents worked twice as hard and earned half of the money. Even right after the fever died out, _malfettos_ were frowned at, and having three of them in your family didn’t exactly make business any easier.  
It had been about a year before my voyage when I overheard my parents talking one rainy night. Two of my sisters had become old enough to marry, and my parents could receive a large dowry for arranging a marriage for one of them. Ariana was the eldest girl in our family. Despite the very obvious black marking along her neck, she carried herself with such grace that boys (as well as some girls) were throwing themselves at her feet. She always claimed love was stupid, and agreed to be married to whoever Mom and Dad thought would be best. 

I, on the other hand, despised the thought of an arranged marriage. I’d always been a hopeless romantic, what with my endless stream of crushes as a child. Luckily for me, and unluckily for my parents, we didn’t have enough money to look for a bride or groom for me. This brought up the big question: what to do with me. I had just turned nineteen, but it was already decided that Michael, the youngest in our family, would be inheriting the family business. He was, after all, the only unmarked boy in our family, having been born after the fever hit. 

The ultimate decision they came to was to send me away. It had never had been this dangerous for someone like me to simply exist. The amount of hatred for _malfettos_ going around caused so much more than just arrests. Saudaterra, the city I lived in, hadn’t officially passed any laws banning _malfettos_ from being employed or starting their own businesses, but no one in their right mind would hire a _malfetto_. It was a risk to their business. No one wanted to buy from someone so horrible and cursed. And along with all of this, were the attacks. They seemed random, but _malfetto_ kids were always the target. Anywhere you went, you had to be wary of being murdered in the street. You had to fear the nameless, faceless attackers who would kill and kill and never face punishment. You had to fear every dark alley and seemingly empty street, because fear kept you alive. 

Mom and Dad had been to a southwestern island nation called Salutasan many times, and it was said that the island was a much more peaceful place. Despite the small size of the country, the Galra empire had yet to launch any attacks. It was essentially a paradise. So they sent me off on a southbound voyage with some money in my pocket and hope in my heart. According to the captain of the ship (the only one who would talk to me) we would be reaching the shores of Salutasan by nightfall, yet I still couldn’t see land anywhere.

By the time the sun began to set across the horizon, the island was in view. We were close enough that I could pick out ships docked at the pier. My heart had started doing somersaults the second I saw land. The weathered captain smiled at me as I ran back to the crew’s quarters to retrieve the small sack of gold talents I had hidden under the floorboards and stuff it into my pocket. I was elated for the first time since I left home. Although it was all terrifying being on my own, it was exciting to see somewhere new for once in my life. 

Upon returning to the main deck, I found that the mood of the rest of the crew was completely opposite to mine. Even the captain had her lips set in a firm line and her eyes trained forward. 

“What is it? What’s going on?” For the first time, one of the crew members actually answered my question.

“Galra ship due north,” said a gruff-looking man. “‘s headed straight for us.” I whipped my head around and, sure enough, there stood a dark ship, proudly flying the deep purple Galra flag. And from the looks of it, it was gaining on us. 

“Distance estimate: one nautical mile. Speed estimate: ten knots,” shouted a woman from the top of the crow’s nest. Someone next to me whispered a quiet “Holy shit”. 

“Ma’am, we have to get into that dock. We have illegal cargo with us,” a man said, gesturing towards me. “Once we dock in Salutasan, they can’t touch us.”

“There’s no way we’re going to make it.”

“We have to make it!”

“Quiet!” The captain’s shout shut up the rest of the crew. “We’re going to make it into those docks! Adjust the sails and find some wind! Do whatever you can to speed us up! And Lance, I want you up here fast, boy!” I quickly scrambled up to where she manned the wheel.

“Yes ma’am?” The captain sighed and turned her eyes toward me for only a brief moment. 

“I want you to go down to the crew’s quarters and hide yourself. If we’re boarded, I don’t want the Galra finding you.” Her expression made it seem like she just didn’t want to be caught with a _malfetto_ on her ship, but the tone of her voice said otherwise. It seemed like she actually cared for me. “I-I...made a promise. To your parents.” This was the first time anyone had mentioned my parents in months, and it made my heart ache. “I promised that I would get their boy into Salutasan _safely_ and that is what I’m going to do,” she whispered her voice cracking on the last word. I was speechless. I stood there staring at the captain as she held her gaze forward. 

“Thank you,” I whispered. Her breath caught in her throat. 

“Don’t mention it,” she whispered in reply. “Now get out of my sight boy!” I saluted at her and she laughed before I ran off towards the bunks, shoving a heavy chest against the door as a barricade and hiding myself under the hammocks. 

It wasn’t fifteen minutes later when I began to hear a struggle above deck. We had been boarded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was the first chapter! Thank you so much for reading this far, and thank you even more if you leave kudos, comment, or subscribe! Your comments are literally my lifeforce, so I appreciate them to no extent. If all goes well this should update every Sunday. My Twitter is @hire_a_samurai


	2. Origins II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you wanna be an airforce ranger, if you wanna live a life of danger, if you don't wanna get captured by strangers...Origins part two.

**“It is pointless to believe what you see, if you only see what you believe.”**  
**― Marie Lu, The Young Elites**

Lance McClain, Juligo 15  
We had been boarded. I could hear the commotion coming from above deck. The longer I waited, the louder it got. The booming of footsteps and cannons firing echoed in my ears. It was terrifying and exciting all at the same time. A large crash-boom! came from the side of the ship, sending me flying across the floor. Dust rained down on me from the ceiling. This was not good. Forgetting everything the captain said about hiding, I jumped up and climbed the ladder up to the deck. 

The ship was in chaos. Clouds of smoke fired from the ends of cannons and people scrambled around in panic. I could see the captain, sword in hand, fighting a man that looked twice her size. Suddenly, something hit me in the side of the head, knocking me down. Above me stood a large, menacing man, swinging his sword down at me. I reached behind me, finding a short dagger and brought the knife up to block the man. His blade locked with mine for only a few moments. His ugly face came close up to mine and he snarled as he stared at my eyes. 

“A _malfetto_!” The shout of the man drew the eyes of the enemy sailors. “I found one, boys! Get this kid back to the ship! Zarkon will be _very_ pleased with us.” His sword knocked my dagger aside, and he picked me up by the collar of my shirt. 

“Let go of me!” I shouted. I struggled against the man’s grip to no avail. Large drops of water began to fall down onto my head, clouding my vision. When had it began to rain? When I refused to stop struggling, the man knocked me upside the head, and I began to find it hard to see. 

“Stop struggling, you demon! _Malfettos_ like you need to learn their place.” As he leaned in to snarl in my face, something happened. The man went rigid, and I felt a pulse of energy run through me. He fell to floor, releasing me as he did so. I quickly scrambled to my feet, disoriented as I was, and ran towards the other end  
of the ship. 

“What happened?”

“The captain was struck by lightning!” _Lightning?_ I didn’t have any time to process this information as two livid sailors rushed at me. Without a thought in my mind except for escape, I climbed over the side of the ship and fell into the ocean. 

The water was freezing as I was submerged in the chaos. Waves crashed around me, disorienting me as I tried to figure out which direction was up. The commotion going on above me was only slightly muffled, still loud enough to make me flinch whenever a misfired cannonball punched through the water. As I broke the surface, I found the silver lining in the storm. No one would be dumb enough to follow me out here. 

That probably said something about my character as well, but whatever. We ended up closer to Salutasan than I thought we were. My arms cut through the erratic waves and my muscles screamed as I struggled to make it to the island. Just a little bit farther, Lance, I reminded myself. Just a little bit farther, and I would finally be able to live the life I always had hoped for. A life where I was safe from the murderers in the street, the killers in the dark. A life where I was finally allowed to exist.

I pulled myself up onto the beach, coughing and struggling for breath. I dragged myself up a few feet, so I was safely out of the water. I glanced back at the carnage behind me. The ship I had come on was nearly gone, having been devoured by flames and cannonballs. Anger rose inside of me as I remembered the captain. Her heart strong and resilient as she fought to the very end, protecting me. 

In a blinding flash, the Galra ship was struck by lightning in not just one spot but two. It caught fire and began to sink. It was impossible for me to tear my eyes away from the scene, but I could feel my little dip in the ocean taking its toll on my body as my adrenaline waned. As I drifted off, I thought of the oddly placed lightning strikes, and the fact that I hadn’t seen a single cloud in the sky until the Galra arrived.

* * *

Hunk Garrett, July 16  
It was nice and cool out when I woke up, thanks to the rain that had come the previous night. My mom sat beside me, looking off the north shore. The Galra attack last night had put everyone in a state of shock. No survivors were found, so it was unclear whether the attack had been intended to go to Salutasan, but it wasn’t very likely that the Galra had sent one of their fastest ships out to attack a lone cargo ship.

The Galra empire had for long been on bad terms with the States of Salutasan. With their conflicting views on the marked children, Galra traders weren’t often seen around this area. Just seeing the ships put us on edge, after the empire had refused to show its face for years. The village counsel had made the decision this morning to put the Salutasan fleet on standby, in case an attack was coming. 

My mother had been on the counsel for years. She’d spent a lot of time protecting and bettering the village she came from, and the threat of the Galra made her more worried than I’d ever seen her. Not to even mention the fact that I was marked. Our towns had a high respect for the marked children, believing them to be blessed by the gods. Up in Asapier, though, they called us _malfettos_ and killed us for no reason. The thought of it was terrifying, and for mom to have that threat posed on her son, no doubt it was incredibly stressful. 

“ _Morning, Mom._ ” She turned to face me and straightened her back, letting out a small sigh.

“ _Good morning, love. Would you go and bring the fishing nets in for me?_ ” I nodded and began to walk down to the beach.

“ _Is there anything else I can get you?_ ” She smiled and shook her head, standing up. Mom’s feet brushed against the soft wooden floor as she walked to me. She pulled my head down so she could reach it, and kissed my forehead. She gave me a hug and patted my shoulders before returning to where she sat. 

I took this as my cue to go down. The sand beneath my feet was soft and squishy, as if the ocean had risen in my sleep, dampening the whole word. I always enjoyed the feel of the world after it rains. Everything felt new, as if it had just been plucked from the ground by the hands of the gods. I walked down to where our small boat was docked, but just as I was about to set off, something caught my eye. 

There was a something big around the other side of the rocks. I couldn’t quite tell what it was, being covered in sand and seaweed. I tied the boat up again and went to go check it out. It was...a person. Hard to spot by anyone who normally stayed on the less rocky portion of the beach, lay a lanky, brown-skinned boy. I quickly dropped to my knees.

“Oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my gods, please don’t be dead!” I rolled him over and wiped the sand off of his face. He seemed to be breathing, but he was completely passed out! I scooped him up and ran back to the hut, being careful not let his head move too much, in case he had a concussion or something. My mom spotted running across the beach and came down to help me. Having my hands full, I couldn’t tell her anything about the boy, but she could tell something was wrong. She ran back to the hut and set out a blanket on the floor, grabbing a cloth and a bowl of water. 

The kid was much heavier than he looked. He had short brown hair and his skin was cold. Mom built a fire and I set the boy down, strpping off his damp, sand-covered shirt. “ _I found him on the beach. He was passed out!_ ” I signed quickly. She started brushing the sand off of him and wrapped him up in the blanket when he was all clean. 

“ _Stay here with him. The sun should warm him up, and he’ll be awake soon._ ” Mom touched my shoulder and went off to tell the other members of the council about our unexpected visitor. Surely enough, it wasn’t long before the boy scrunched up his face and began coughing. I turned him onto his side so he wouldn’t choke and waited until his breath started to even out again. 

“Wha-?” He blinked his eyes open confusedly, surprising me. They were two different colors! His left eye was emerald-green and the right looked as if it had been forged from gold. He was marked like me! “What? Where...am I? Who are you?” He tried to push himself up with his arms and immediately regretted it, feeling the burn in his muscles and laying back down on the blanket. 

“The name’s Hunk. Hunk Garrett. When I found you, you were kinda...passed out. Are you okay?” He looked around a bit more before smiling and letting out a weak laugh. 

“I think so. I’m Lance. “ I smiled back at him. I helped him sit up and gave him some water. He stared off towards the shore, studying it carefully.

“So...would you mind explaining how you got here?” I asked carefully. He glanced at me and gave me a smile that ended up as more of a grimace.

“Yeah, sure.” He told me about the condition in the north. How _malfettos_ were facing more and more danger each passing day. How his parents were in financial trouble and they decided to send him off out here. When it came to him talking about the Galra attack, he hesitated a little. Lance told me about the captain of the ship making sure that he got here safely. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite go as planned and he ended up having to abandon the ship.

“There was something else, too,” he said. Lance turned away from me, facing the ocean again. “Back when I was on the ship, there wasn’t a cloud around for miles. But as soon as the Galra attacked, there was suddenly this huge storm, I’m sure you saw it.” I nodded. It _was_ pretty strange how quickly the storm had formed. Usually we’re able to predict when it will rain, even in minimal amounts. We should’ve been able to see a storm that large days beforehand. 

“When the Galra came onto the ship, one of them was trying to take me with him, but right before we could cross onto the other ship, lightning struck him. It let me get away and I swam all the way from there to the island. When I looked back at the burning ship, the same thing happened again. Lightning struck the mast of the Galra ship and it burnt down before it could get anywhere. Something about that storm felt different.” He hesitated. “You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I felt a sort of _connection_ to it.” 

I stared out at the ocean too. The dark clouds from last night were completely gone, leaving the sky remarkably empty once again. The damp sand beneath me scratched against my skin. 

“You’re not crazy,” I muttered, and Lance turned to me. “I...felt it too. There was a strange energy around last night. My mom said she didn’t feel it, but it was there. I know it was.” Lance smiled, and I stood up, offering a hand to the boy across from me, and pulling him up. “Let’s go out for a walk. My mom probably won’t be back for a while. “ Lance nodded and we walked off into the forest. 

It was cooler beneath the dense canopy. While the rest of the world had pretty much dried off, the forest was still saturated. It was green, green, green everywhere, dotted by splashes of color from flowers and animals. Brightly-toned birds flitted past us and looped around my head, startling Lance. I laughed.

“Yeah, animals kind of love me. When I was a kid, I used to be terrified of them, but they’ve kind of grown on me recently.” Lance watched with wide eyes as a tiny orange bird sat itself on my shoulder. He laughed and leaned in towards the creature. 

“Haha! You’re like an animal whisperer! I kinda like this guy.” Lance reached his hand out toward the bird and it gave a small tweet. “It looks like he likes me too. Don’tcha, buddy?” He touched the bird’s head, and it suddenly squawked, flapping its wings and flying away. I laughed as Lance pouted. “I guess it’s just you, huh, Hunk.” 

We walked in silence for the next few moments, just enjoying the nature around us and clearing our minds. “Sooo…” Lance began. “You...had the fever too?” I looked at him and nodded. Starting from the back of my neck, I had black, tentacle-like markings snaking around my neck and down my back. They were easily visible, but I didn’t find it necessary to hide them. Lance, on the other hand, was probably used to hiding his marking. 

“Yeah. But it probably was easier for me than it was for you.” Lance nodded solemnly. He pointed to a long scar across his shoulder that looked dangerously close to his neck. 

“From when I was fifteen,” he explained. “I was out buying some stuff for my parents and I was walking home by myself. This guy just popped out of an alley and grabbed me. It was pretty clear that he was trying to kill me, the way he talked about _malfettos_. Luckily, I managed to escape the guy, but his knife still got me.” I stared at my feet. 

“Have you ever thought about, I don’t know, maybe fighting back?” Lance looked at me a little weird before turning his eyes back to the ground. 

“Against who? Emperor Zarkon? The leader of the strongest nation in the world? Yeah, right. I barely survived one attack, forget about a war!” Lance sounded criticizing, but the look on his face told me that it was more directed towards himself than me. 

“What about the Young Elites?” I asked. Lance stopped in his tracks. 

“The Young Elites?”

“Yeah, you know. The marked people who have the special powers. Like The White Rose and The Jester.” I said these with a confidence that broke through Lance’s introspection. 

“I thought they were just rumors…” I shook my head 

“Nope. There’s been confirmed attacks by them in Asapier and some of the northern nations like Arezey. They’re real, alright. I heard that The White Rose once tricked her king into impaling himself on his own sword!”

“Gross,” said Lance. “But, even if there are people out there with powers, could they ever stand up against Zarkon?” I grinned at Lance. 

“We’ll just have to find out!” Lance opened his mouth to speak, but quickly shut it. “What-”

“Shhh! Look,” He whispered, pulling me behind the trunk of a large tree. “Is that…”

“A Galra ship?”

* * *

Katie Holt, July 16  
It was cold outside. But I guess it always was here. A brisk breeze wove its way through my coat and seeped into my skin as I walked down the road. A little bell rang at the door as I walked into the apothecary. “Hi, Mom, I’m here.” I could hear commotion coming from the back and took that as her response. I walked behind the counter, exchanging my coat for an apron and getting to work. 

My mom had owned this apothecary for years, and she made pretty good money from it, due to the fact that it was the only one in town. The shelves were lined with herbs, powders, solutions, and pills of all kinds. I pulled out a box, opening the bag inside and walking over to the mirror on the wall. Using my hands, I pulled out some of the light beige power and began applying it. Starting at my collarbone, green, vine-like markings trailed their way up my neck, curling around my chin just slightly. These were a result of the tragic blood fever that infected my brother and I years ago. 

Before the fever, this was just a normal old apothecary where you could go to buy medicine for this or that. The fever had caught Arezey first. It traveled in a southwestern direction, spreading from country to country, sparing no one. No one, except for _malfettos_ , that is. When the crimes on _malfettos_ first began, it worried my mother to no end. Ultimately, she decided to start selling things under the table. Special products like creams and powders that helped _malfettos_ cover their markings. 

It started as a business, but ended up as more of a charity. Many people who were marked didn’t have jobs and, therefore, no money to pay with. And so my mother, gods bless her, started giving these products away for free to anyone who needed them. She began to lose money, but made up for it by extending the shop hours and taking double and triple shifts. Meanwhile, my father was getting ready to set out on a journey. 

There were large expanses of empty, uncharted land to the far north, and my father was trained as a cartographer. He had taken my older brother as his apprentice and planned to bring him with him when he set off to make his maps. My mother supported them to the ends of the earth, but I had always been jealous. They got to go out exploring while I was trapped in the dusty old apothecary. It’s not like I didn’t appreciate my mom, it’s just that in an ideal world, we would _all_ go out adventuring together. But then again, in an ideal world, the Galra Empire wouldn’t be bent on the destruction of all those who survived the fever. So I was out of luck.

I finished applying the makeup and put the powder back in its place when my mother came out from the back, covered in a mushy purple substance. “Turns out some of those roots weren’t quite dry yet,” she joked. She wiped off the purple goo from her face and looked out the window. “Still hasn’t quite warmed up yet, huh?” I shook my head.

“Its super cold out there.” I replied. “Did you get many customers?” My mom shrugged.

“Not as many as usual, but that marked girl from a few towns over told me she got a job and paid me for all of the stuff I’d given her for free. So we’re at a pretty good standing at the moment. Us ladies are pretty resilient, aren’t we?” I laughed. My mom’s smile was sad, but grateful. It had been months since Matt and my dad were supposed to come back from their expedition. A few search parties had been sent out to look for them, but none of them came back successful. Neither of us wanted to say anything out loud, being stubborn in denial, but in the back of our minds, the fear was still present. 

“Do you need any help back there?” I asked. 

“No,” mom replied. “But it’s been getting a little more windy lately. It would be great if you could just go out and clean the windows and sweep a little.” I nodded, and grabbed a rag, setting to work. I scrubbed the windows down on the inside and outside, before taking a broom and sweeping the floor and the porch. The sun was high in the sky when I finally finished, putting the broom back in its closet. A few customers had come and gone during that time, mostly regulars from the town that I had known my whole life. 

I put my hand on the doorknob at the front of the shop, feeling it suddenly give out as I attempted to turn it. Crap. I really seemed to have a talent for breaking things. I picked up the broken metal and held it up to the door to see what damage had been done, but when I removed my hand, the doorknob was back on. That...was strange. I gave it an experimental turn and found it working completely fine. This seemed to have been happening a lot lately. I would break something, walk off to get supplies to repair it, and come back to find it perfectly fine but in another location. I really needed to start paying closer attention to these things. 

Sitting behind the counter inside, I stared boredly out the window. There was something on the horizon. A pair of horses pulling a covered wagon. I paid it no mind at first, as it was a pretty common sight. Except once it got closer, I could see what was unusual about it. Atop of the wagon sat a deep purple flag with the Galra crest on it. I felt my entire body tense up. What were the Galra doing this far west?

“Mom,” I called out, my voice shaking slightly. She poked her head out of the back, this time covered in a light green dust. “Look.” I pointed out the window and watched recognition grow on her face.

“Katie. Go to the back for a while, would you?” She didn’t take her eyes off of the Galra soldiers that were almost on our doorstep.

“Mom, I-”

“Katie. Go.” I knew there was no arguing, and this was probably for the better. Still, I worried what would happen if they came in and found my mother selling illegal products to the marked people. 

I walked quietly into the back room, but pressed my ear up against the door. I could hear the little bell on the door ringing. A harbinger of evil. Footsteps walked up to the counter, and I heard my mom ask what she could help them with. One of the soldiers coughed and cleared his throat.

“Just a routine inspection ma’am. Would you mind stepping away from the counter?” I heard her mutter an apology and shuffle away. There were dull thuds as the various creams, powders, herbs and medicines we had behind the counter were moved around. “May I see your transaction records?” It was not a question, but a demand.

“My, um, what?”

“Your written record of the transactions you make.”

“Oh, uh, yes! Yes, it’s right here. Here you go.” I risked opening the door a crack to see what was happening. A large Galra soldier towered over my mother and another one stood guard by the door. Both were very visibly armed. The man flipped through the clipboard my mother handed him. 

“The law states that all shopkeepers must keep a written record of all of the _malfettos_ they serve. Were you aware of this law?” The Galra’s voice was gruff and my mother stared at her feet, unable to meet his eyes. 

“No sir, I was not aware. I apologize.” The man tossed the clipboard onto the counter and sneered at my mom. 

“Next time, you best have those records. Failing to record transactions effectively is punishable by law. You’re lucky I’m letting you off with a warning.” I wanted to jump out from my hiding spot and throttle the man, but I held back. My hand clenched into fists at my sides. How dare he come into our shop and speak to my mother like this. The Galra were awful.

“Yes, sir. Thank you.” He continued to rummage through the various products until he came to the cosmetic powder I had used just that morning.

“And what is this?” He asked, holding up the bag.

“Well, that’s just regular cosmetic powder...” The soldier narrowed his eyes at her angrily. “Sir.” she added. 

“For a regular cosmetic powder, you seem to be giving a lot of it away to anonymous patrons. You know, Mrs…” he looked at her name tag. “Mrs. Holt. Selling cosmetics to _malfettos_ allowing them to cover their markings is a federal crime.”

“I wouldn’t, I-I would never…” The man gestured to the soldier standing at the door, and he took out handcuffs approaching my mom. 

“Wait!” I yelled, running out from the back. The intrusion only seemed to make the soldiers angrier. 

“Katie-”

“It was me! I was giving this to the, the _malfettos_!” Using the word made me flinch. 

“And who, pray tell,” the Galra man stepped closer to me. “...are you?” He stared daggers at me, but I refused to break eye contact or move from where I stood. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. The question of name threw me off. If I told them my real name, it was likely that they would take my mom as well or shut down the apothecary, and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if that happened. 

“I’m Pidge...Gunderson. I work here. Mrs. Holt is my employer. But she didn’t know anything about any of this, it was all me.” The man leaned down.

“Why should I believe you? Why would someone as young as you even sympathise with _malfettos_?” His voice was the most patronizing thing I had ever heard, but I could do nothing but just grin and bear it.

“Because, b-because…” I looked back at my mom. Her face was covered in worry and I could tell she didn’t want me to do this, but she wouldn’t dare trying to stop me now. It was already too late. “Because I am one.” I scrubbed the heel of my hand against my chin and neck, removing the makeup and revealing the green markings beneath.

The man’s eyes widened and he smiled, and it was the most terrifying thing I had seen in my life. Something inside me broke, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the man. “Well, well. Another dirty _malfetto_. I knew your kind was nothing but scum.” He roughly grabbed my wrists, making me yelp, and the other soldier shoved shackles onto them. 

“Wait!” My mother shouted as they began to drag me away. The second soldier unsheathed his sword as a warning, and my mom drew back. My eyes never left hers as I was pulled through the door. She couldn’t say anything without jeopardizing the facade I had put up, but just before she left my sight, I saw her mouth three words. 

_I love you._

* * *

Keith Kogane, July 21  
The week I spent with Shiro was mostly ordinary, except I didn’t go out searching for new things to sell. Instead, I spent half of my time selling my “borrowed” wares and the other half of my time sitting down and talking with Shiro. It turned out that he had some sort of amnesia and couldn’t remember much. He remembered that he had been held in a prison at the Galra capitol and somehow managed to escape, but he couldn’t recall much about the experience.

Shiro was also patient beyond words. He would just stay inside the house all day while I was at the market. We both had agreed that it would be safer if he stayed inside where nobody could see him. Shiro would often busy himself with cleaning things or trying to get acquainted to using his left arm. Apparently, he didn’t remember losing his right arm either, and the sudden loss was very troubling for him.

It wasn’t surprising. I remembered when I lost my eye. I was constantly bumping into things for weeks, if not months. I’m sure losing a limb was even worse, but whenever I asked Shiro about it, he smiled and told me he was fine, even though I knew he wasn’t. I was packing up my things for the day when Shiro came outside. 

“Hey,” he said softly. “Busy day?”

“Yeah,” I answered. I unwrapped my hair and took off my eyepatch, feeling it was safe. Shiro never seemed to be bothered by my scar like others had been in the past. Everything about him was calming and for once in my life, I felt relaxed. I sat down next to him, running a hand through my hair. It had been getting longer recently. 

“Call me crazy, but do you ever just feel...lost?” He looked at me with a sigh before turning his head to look at the dimming light on the horizon. 

“Always,” I replied quietly.

“It’s funny,” he said. “How I can’t remember anything, but somehow it seems like it was meant for you to find me passing out in the desert.” I chuckled softly. “I don’t know where I’m supposed to be, but right now, I feel more in my element than I ever remember being. “ 

“I have no idea what I’m meant for either. I’ve always felt sort of...tied to the desert, but it always felt a little wrong. But right now, it’s better.” We smiled, appreciating the canvas of colors the gods had painted onto the skies. The sunsets out here were beautiful. “We better get inside before the bugs start biting,” I say, and Shiro nodded in agreement.

I walked inside, flopping down into my cot. I had done everything I could to try and persuade Shiro to sleep in my bed, but he insisted that he didn’t need it and he would be fine on the floor. After I realized I wasn’t going to get him to break, I settled on making him take my all my blankets to construct a sort of makeshift mattress next to mine. We drifted off to sleep more peacefully than either of us had in years.

It didn’t seem like long, but it must have been hours later when a knock came to the door, waking me from my sleep. At first, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me and I tried to return to my sleep, but realized that it was real when the sound repeated a few moments after. I carefully got up and stepped over Shiro, trying not to wake up the man. He mumbled a bit, brows furrowed. After making sure he was still asleep, I walked to the door and opened it, rubbing my eye.

It was a Galra soldier. A Galra soldier on my front doorstep. This couldn’t be good. He was a least a foot taller than me and held a torch and a scroll of paper. Behind him stood more soldiers and some horses pulling a caravan. He made no apology and showed no remorse for disturbing my sleep. The soldier simple unfurled the scroll and began reading.

“By orders of Lord Zarkon of the Galra Empire, all _malfettos_ are to be put under arrest immediately and taken to the capitol city of the Empire. No exceptions.” I stared at the man dumbly, waiting for him to say he was kidding, but no such statement came. “Open up your home and come peacefully, or will we have to use force.” 

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I said a little too loudly. “The Galra Empire has no jurisdiction here!” He smiled as if that was the answer he was expecting.

“The Galra Empire has jurisdiction everywhere, boy.” His smirk only made me angrier.

“Keith...what’s going on?” asked a groggy Shiro from behind me. I turned to face him and watched recognition fall across his face. Turning to him had been a bad decision because it gave the soldier a full view of Shiro. Seeing the man, the Galra’s eyes narrowed visibly and all of the joking was gone from his expression. 

“Takashi Shirogane and...whoever you are, you are under arrest by order of Lord Zarkon and the Galra Empire. Put your hands up and come peacefully or we will have to use force.” The sound of Shiro’s full name called more people to the door. There were now at least four soldiers standing behind the first man and none of them looked happy. Shiro stood up and took a few steps closer. I looked around for an escape and found nothing. 

I remembered my knife and reached a hand behind me slowly and without breaking eye contact. I almost had it in my hand when the Galra soldier flicked his eyes down and lunged at me. I stepped back and grabbed my knife at the same time the soldier swung his sword at me. Our blades clashed and locked between our faces. He quickly overpowered me and I to drop to the floor to escape the attack. I heard Shiro rushing up behind me to hold back the other guards and I quickly kicked the sword out of the man’s hands and into Shiro’s.

Shiro grabbed the sword and swung at the man looming over me, giving me time to attack the next soldier. One of the men got a blow in straight across my face, nearly knocking me to the ground. I kicked at the same time as I swung my knife up into his chin, cutting across his face from his jawline and stopping just short of his eye. Another soldier swung at me, cutting across my shoulder. I heard the clang of swords behind me as Shiro fought someone else.

We were giving the men quite a fight, but it was useless. More and more soldiers just kept coming. It wasn’t long before one of their blades cut a deep gash into my side, making me fall to my knees. I wasn’t sure where it came from, but there was fire around us, making everything hotter and brighter and more intense. I couldn’t pick myself up from the floor. The pain in my side was excruciating and I could feel warm blood dripping down and covering my hands. 

“Zarkon will be glad to have the Champion back.” I heard from above me.

“What about the other one? Should we take the little shit or just leave him here to die?”

“As much trouble as he’s given us, I think he’ll be of some use to us. Get him tied up.” I felt hands around my back and sides wrapping my arms up with rope.

“Shiro…” I called out weakly. When I was dragged up by the arms, I nearly blacked out from pain. I could see the shack become smaller and smaller as I was dragged across the hot desert sand. I was thrown into a cart and as my vision blacked out I could faintly hear the sound of someone calling my name. I wondered who it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! This fic is my baby, and every single comment/kudos is 100% guaranteed to bring me to the verge of tears. Forgot to mention it last time, but my twitter is @hire_a_samurai if y'all wanna yell at me!


	3. Origins III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A rescue and and introduction from some pretty strange strangers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, first off, I apologize for not getting this up yesterday. I drove for fifteen hours which made me pretty exhausted and, by the time I got home, I completely forgot about updating. Next week's update might be in a similar situation, but maybe not, I guess we'll see! Enjoy!

**“Some hate us, think us outlaws to hang at the gallows.**  
**Some fear us, think demons to burn at the stake,**  
**Some worship us, think us children of the gods.**  
**But all know us.”**  
**― Marie Lu, The Young Elites**

Lance McClain, July 24

It was raining again. Heavy drops of water pelted the cover of the cart as it bumped along cobblestone roads. It had been a week since the Galra launched a full-scale attack on Salutasan and captured Hunk and I. They came from the south, where no one was expecting it. My sense of direction wasn’t the best, but from what I could tell, we were headed for the Galra capitol. Hunk and other _malfetto _prisoners sat beside me, chained and tied up, our clothes soaking wet. The wind around us made it even worse. The caravan we were shoved into didn’t have much cover from the outside, so it was plain luck that none of us had gotten hypothermia or frostbite yet.__

Hunk’s worry increased at an exponential rate, and I couldn’t blame him. He’d never seen a Galra soldier, much less been captured by them. I had experienced some of the Galra’s hate before, but never to this extent. With the numerous other caravans stretching out in front and behind us, there was no doubt that this wasn’t a single attack. The Galra had launched an all-out war on _malfettos_. I had no idea how far their attacks extended, but they must’ve been taking prisoners for miles.

* * *

Katie Holt, Juligo 24

The Galra had been taking prisoners for miles. When they picked me up, I was one of only a few people in the caravan, but now, there had to be at least thirty people riding along with me and the line of caravans extended as far as I could see. I had gotten out of my cuffs days ago. I wasn’t a day into the journey when I figured out that I could voluntarily break and fix the shackles around my cuffs as if it was magic. To tell you the truth, I didn’t understand it at all, but it sure would be coming in handy soon enough.

As I sat in the cart, head hanging, I planned my escape. I would just wait until I was isolated enough that there were no Galra soldiers on guard. Then, I would simply break my shackles and make a run for it. Unfortunately, there was one fatal flaw in that genius plan. I could never get a break from the Galra. 24/7 there were soldiers watching over the other prisoners and I. I had half an impulse to just make a break for it, right now, in front of everyone. I could tell that we were nearing the Galra capitol, and I wanted nothing to do with that place, but there was no way I could get out. 

There were Galra soldiers on horseback for what must’ve been miles. No way could I ever outrun one of their horses. And, even if I did manage to get away, where would I go? I didn’t know anything about the geography around me, and I guessed that there wouldn’t be any kind-hearted Galra citizens willing to take in a marked kid on the run. It was hopeless.

* * *

Takashi Shirogane, July 24

It was hopeless. Keith wasn’t waking up. The wound in his side looked awful, but he still had a pulse and was breathing. The boy’s silver-streaked hair had clumps of dried blood stuck to it and his face was smeared with dirt. And there was something else I hadn’t noticed until I had woken up in the caravan. Keith had burn marks all across his palms. He looked horrible. If it weren’t for the warmth of his body, I would’ve thought he was gone. Every muscle in me was sore, but I couldn’t care less. I had Keith laid across my lap and he looked as peaceful as the time I had first met him. But this time, he didn’t look asleep. He looked dead.

The Galra capital became nearer with each passing moment and my fear only grew more as we got closer to the enormous city. There was no way that the Galra would waste any medical attention on a _malfetto_ , so if Keith wasn’t awake by the time we arrived in the city, he would end up dead. Some of the other prisoners around me looked at him with sympathy in their eyes, but others wouldn’t spare a glance in fear of being punished. 

Our caravan seemed to be the most heavily guarded, with soldiers on horses surrounding it on all sides. I wasn’t sure why, but I had a sinking feeling in my stomach that it had something to do with me. I couldn’t help but blame myself. I didn’t know how, but I was sure that this was all my fault.

* * *

Hunk Garrett, July 24

This was all my fault. I had suggested going for a walk alone in the forest. Who even does that? It’s like common sense rule number one. Don’t go walking in the forest alone, even if you technically aren’t alone. If Lance and I hadn’t gone walking in the forest, we would’ve been able to escape from the Galra, we wouldn’t have been captured, and we wouldn’t currently be tied up in a caravan headed for the capital of the cruelest and most horrible people in the world. 

My hands were shaking and the rest of me probably was as well, but I was too engaged in my own thoughts to tell. The Galra were a hundred times scarier than I had imagined. They were all super buff and they all seemed to be at least a foot taller than me. And that was an accomplishment. Not many people were taller than me. All of the soldiers were decked out in heavy armor and each carried a long sword, amongst other weapons. I tried to close my eyes and think of a way out of this. If we were going to escape, we would need a distraction.

As if on cue, I heard shouts coming from a few carts back, and our caravan stopped. An aura of panic began to clog the air as the smoke seeped into the caravan and I began to see flames creeping up the canvas above us. Everything was on fire.

* * *

Keith Kogane, July 24

_Everything was on fire. I woke up to flames and smoke surrounding me. I was in my shack, and seeing the fire roaring around me, I quickly jumped out of bed and ran out the door. It slammed behind me, and I spun around to see what had caused it. My dad. My father was inside of the house, staring at me through the glass on the door._

_“Dad! What are you doing? Get out of there!” I grabbed the door handle but quickly jerked my hand back as it burned me. My father just stared back at me calmly, a serene smile on his face as if he wasn’t standing right in the middle of a house fire. I grabbed at the handle again, this time gritting my teeth as I felt the searing pain. It was no use. The door wouldn’t open. I pounded against the glass with all of my strength, but nothing seemed to work. “Dad! Dad,” my voice cracked as I shouted at him. The flames began to creep up the door and lap at my arms, burning my skin as I refused to step away. My father turned away from me and began to walk away. “No, no no!” I pounded my fists against the door and as the fire singed my flesh, my vision went black._

I felt a sharp slap against my face and I once again awoke to the sight of flames. Only this time, Shiro was standing above me, face showing worry, fear, and relief all at the same time.

“For gods’ sake, Keith! If I had known that all it takes to wake you up was a smack, I would’ve done it days ago!” He laughed, but it was clear that he found no levity in the situation. “Can you stand?” I shrugged, and he reached a hand out to me, pulling me up. “We have to get out of here." I followed him to the unburnt end of the caravan and jumped out alongside him, nearly landing on my face. I jumped up, ready to run when I was roughly grabbed by the collar.

“I should’ve killed you when I had the chance,” snarled a voice next to my ear. I could feel the cold, sharp edge of a sword pressed against my neck. It began to draw blood but something caught the man’s attention and made him stop. Two white-cloaked figures wearing silver masks stood atop of a caravan. I watched them draw their swords as everyone in the area stopped and stared. “The Young Elites…” the man holding me whispered.

“Stop,” one of them shouted. “In the name of the gods and the Rose Society, set these people free! “ 

The man holding me scoffed. “Or what?” The one who had spoken pointed at the man and suddenly his sword disappeared and reformed in the hand of the cloaked figure. The man stepped back in fear, and I ran in the direction of the figures. I didn’t know who they were, but they just saved my life, so I trusted them a lot more than anyone else in the area. Except for Shiro, of course. 

Wait, Shiro! I whipped my head around and found him in a similar situation to that of mine. He was being held by a tall soldier who suddenly contorted in pain. He clawed at his throat and began to turn blue as if he couldn’t breathe. Shiro broke the man’s grip and ran alongside me. 

“The White Rose,” someone screamed. The cloaked person threw me a sword and I caught it, beginning to fight off the impossible amount of soldiers. Rain poured down my face as I cut down soldier after soldier, not bothering to show any mercy. Galra soldiers were dropping to their feet, cut down by invisible fighters or tortured by pains that weren’t really there. The Elites reappeared suddenly, dropping a short girl, a buff guy and a skinny kid next to me before returning to fight.

The muscular one decked a Galra soldier straight across the face, knocking him down. The skinny boy with different colored eyes and no shirt didn’t seem to be doing much besides looking around nervously, but lightning suddenly began striking soldiers left and right, killing them on the spot. The shortest looked around frantically, but when she found a target, the soldier’s entire torso disappeared as it was ripped from his body and reappeared a few feet away. The gruesome sight caught me off guard and I stopped fighting to gawk for a moment before a hit to the side of my face brought me back to the present.

The newly arrived kids fought without mercy, and the remaining Galra began to retreat to the city. With the majority of the people gone, I could finally get a glimpse of what the cloaked figures were doing. One of them was creating illusions of pain or of things that weren’t there, inciting fear in the soldiers. The other figure seemed to be doing the same thing along with using the powers of the people beside me. I wondered if he or she or whoever they were was the source of the powers. Both of the warriors had sliver masks covering their faces, making it impossible to tell their identity. When the last few soldiers were gone, the Elites ran over to us. 

“We’re the Rose Society. I advise coming with us if you value your life,” one of them said. From the sound of the strangely-accented voice, it was a girl. I nodded and looked around. How had they even gotten here? The muscled boy from before started calling horses over and they miraculously listened. I jumped onto a horse and offered my hand out to Shiro, pulling him up beside me. The boy with the lightning and the one who called the horses got on one together and everyone else took their own. 

“So,” Shiro said, addressing the woman. “Where to, White Rose?” Despite being unable to see her face, I could see the smile in the White Rose’s eyes.

“To the Galra capitol.”

* * *

Lance McClain, July 24

“Are you crazy?!” I shouted at the woman. “We nearly _died_ fighting the Galra and you want us to go to the capitol of their empire? I know we survived that little battle, but they’re gonna be prepared for us by the time we get there! It’s suicide!” The woman’s face was hard and expressionless under her mask. 

“Do you trust me?” she asked with her strange accent. I stared back at her with matching intensity. 

“Hardly,” I deadpanned. 

“Hey, they just saved our lives,” interjected the boy with silver-streaked hair. “I don’t know about you, but that’s more than enough of a reason to trust her.” Oh, this guy was an asshole. 

“Whatever. You guys can go have your fun getting slaughtered by the Galra. I’m not going.” 

“Suit yourself,” the cloaked man said. The horses started off in the direction of the capitol, ours staying stubbornly still.

“Um, Lance, we really should probably stay with them,” Hunk said quietly from behind me. “I mean, I know they’re going to like, the Galra capital and all, but we would be 100% safer with them than we’d be on our own. Just saying.” I sighed, watching the other horses trot off. 

“Fine, but if we die, I told you so.” I kicked the horse, sending it off running. Hunk yelped and grabbed onto my shoulders tightly. He’d probably never ridden a horse before, what with living on an island and all. Before the fever, though, my siblings and I used to use them to run around town all the time. And this was a way nicer horse than the one I had. It caught up with the others in a matter of seconds. 

No one seemed to be surprised by my change of mind. The ass from before scoffed and I scowled. I was ready to be away from that guy. The rain became steadier as we rode through it. The “White Rose” didn’t seem to be in any hurry to get anywhere though, letting all of our horses trot at a leisurely pace. 

“Can I ask what the plan here is, ma’am,” asked the guy riding with Captain Asshole. The woman glanced back at him but said nothing continuing to ride forward. 

“Rose, we’re in sight of the city walls,” noted the cloaked man. His accent was even stranger than hers. 

“Let up on the rain a little for me, would you, Jester?” The man nodded and my eyes widened. 

“The Jester…” I heard Hunk mutter. So he was real. How many of these Elites were there out there? The conversation I had with Hunk in the forest came back to me. _“Have you ever thought about, I don’t know, fighting back?”_ That’s what these people were doing, right? They had incredible powers at their advantage, and they were using them to take back what had been stolen from them. Power, respect, innocence… 

I thought back to the strange capabilities of the people I was fighting with. The small boy’s ability to deconstruct things and my ability to call on the lightning. Was I an Elite too? I watched as the rain began to let up quicker than what would be normal. 

“Get yourselves ready boys, this might be a bit of a shock to you,” the man called out. At first, I didn’t know what he meant, but then I began to see it. One by one, we began to disappear as if a blanket of invisibility were being woven over us. It wasn’t seconds later that I couldn’t hear the clopping of hooves on the ground, and everyone, myself included, ceased to exist. I was still there, I was sure of it. The wet wind still whipped around me, and I could feel every bump of the horse, but I couldn’t see or hear any of it.

I did my best to keep my horse going straight as I could. I had somewhat of an idea where the others were, but I didn’t want to accidentally bump into anyone in the chances that it might blow our cover. The illusion was flawless. I could see every drop of rain moving as if none of us were really there. That must’ve been what the White Rose did. She created illusions, and they were amazing. I gaped as we passed right through the city gates guarded by Galra soldiers who hadn’t the slightest idea we were there. 

As soon as we were safely in the city, the illusion changed. We were now a group of battered Galra soldiers on horseback, returning from the brutal battle with the Young Elites. The first soldier turned down streets and the rest of us dutifully followed. When we came to a back alley, guarded by shadows, the White Rose dropped the illusion and jumped off her horse. I jumped down, waiting for Hunk before once again trailing the masked stranger.

The feeling of dread in my stomach increased by the second as we walked into darker and deeper parts of the city. The little brunet kid looked around in awe while Major Dickface and and the dude with a missing arm refused to stare anywhere but straight ahead. The Elites finally stopped at a cellar door behind an unmarked building. The Jester opened the cellar doors and jumped down in, followed by the White Rose. Lieutenant Douchebag didn’t show an ounce of hesitance in jumping down into the deep dark hole and neither did One-Armed Guy. 

When the short boy came up to the cellar, he stopped to look back at Hunk and I. “Do you guys think this is a good idea,” he asked. I gave him a look that said _I-told-you-so_ and that seemed to be all the encouragement he needed. 

“Man, can I get a break from all these life-threatening situations for like, five minutes?” Hunk shrugged and I sighed, jumping down the hole. The cellar was damp and almost impossible to see in. I heard Hunk land behind me and waited for him to catch up before joining the rest of the group. The White Rose had pulled out an ornate iron torch from who-knows-where and the Jester had his hands near it. I was about to make a sarcastic comment when flames burst out from the Jester’s hands and the torch brightened up the room. The Jester could control fire _and_ rain? That didn’t make much sense, but I didn’t have much time to dwell on the thought.

The cellar looked surprisingly average, aside from one thing: a large door. It was made of metal and looked heavy, but inset into it were twelve different gemstones arranged in a circle. The White Rose placed her hand in the center of the circle, and two of the gemstones began to glow as if lit from the inside. One, translucent and blue-green in color, was probably aquamarine. The other was the finest diamond I’d ever seen, and being the son of merchants, I’d seen a fair amount of diamonds. I heard small slide-click sounds coming from the door, and the White Rose pulled it open, gesturing to the dark pathway as if she were a servant. 

“So,” she said with levity in her voice. “Who wants to go first?”

* * *

Katie Holt, July 24

“I’ll go,” I said, walking forward. I approached the White Rose and took the torch from her hand. 

“What’s your name,” she asked looking at me eye to eye. It had been awhile since someone did that.

“Pidge. Pidge Gunderson,” I replied, without breaking eye contact. Something in the woman’s eyes changed, but nothing indicated that she knew I was lying. She blinked and swept her arm towards the dark tunnel as if to say “After you.” I began walking. The walls were damp and dingy, and every step I took echoed back at me. I could hear the others behind me, whispering softly to each other, but I couldn’t bear to spare a glance behind me. 

So much had happened in the past week, I didn’t know what to expect. It seemed like I had escaped my death, but for all I knew, I was being led right into an even worse fate. Back at home, the Young Elites were nothing more than rumors. Everyone had heard about them, but no one had ever seen them. To suddenly come face to face with some of the most notorious _malfettos_ in the world was more than a little bit shocking. Having them rescue you from an inevitable death was even crazier. I wasn’t one to easily trust, but having someone save your life sure made you start throwing away your doubts. Someone could jump out in front of me right now claiming to be Emperor Zarkon and I would probably believe them. 

It wasn’t long before I arrived in front of another door. The White Rose opened the door in the same method as the first, the colored stones giving off faint light in the darkness of the tunnel. She pushed the door open and walked inside. When compared to the narrowness of the tunnel, this room was enormous. It had large, curved walls that turned the ceiling into a sort of dome. There were several doors lining the walls, but I hadn’t the slightest idea what was behind them. Large pillars held up the ceiling, each of them made of intricately-carved marble. 

The Jester raised his hands, and the torches along the walls lit up all at once, illuminating the room. And, _oh_ , in the light, the room was beautiful. Along the walls were huge murals depicting ancient mythology. Paintings depicted the gods Amare and Fortuna, the god Laetes falling from the heavens and reaching Earth as a mortal, and the beautiful Pulchitras emerging from the ocean. The colors were bright and vivid as if they’d just been painted a week ago. It took my breath away, seeing such fine art. 

“How did this get here,” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. 

“These underground structures and tunnels have been here for years. Long before the fever hit and before any of us were even born. They’re so long forgotten, though, that almost no one knows they’re down here,” the Jester replied. He took the torch from my hand and set it on the wall. 

“Why are we here?” I turned around to see who had spoken. It was a tall man with a white patch of hair and a purple marking over his eye. Seeing his marking made me unconsciously rub at mine. The man was also missing an arm. How did I not notice that before? I looked around the room a bit more and realized something: we were all _malfettos_. Although some of their markings weren’t as obvious, they all had them. The angry-looking boy had silver streaks in his hair, the skinny one had heterochromatic eyes, the big one had black markings on his neck. It was somehow comforting.

The White Rose said nothing. She simply took her hood off and let her hair out of the bun it was in. Long, snow-white curls fell down over her back and shoulders. I heard a few gasps, one of them might’ve been mine. Her hair was such a pristine white that it couldn’t have come from age. We had all known that the Young Elites were _malfettos _, but the idea never really solidified until we saw it for ourselves. The Jester took off his gloves and held up his hands showing us the black markings across his palms.__

__“We brought you here because we need you,” said the White Rose, her voice strong. What was that supposed to mean? Why would anyone need us? She took off her mask, and this is when I knew I gasped. I fell to one knee and bowed my head. The others looked at me, slightly confused._ _

__“Princess Allura,” I murmured. The skinny kid’s eyes widened in shock._ _

__“Wait, wait. Princess Allura of Altea?” He bowed along with me and everyone else quickly did the same. The Princess made no move to stop us._ _

__“Princess,” said the angry kid. “Why...why would _you_ need _us_?” I was glad that he asked so I didn’t have to. _ _

__“Because, “ she said, looking each of us in the eye one by one. “You’re just like us.”_ _

* * *

__Hunk Garrett, July 24_ _

__“I knew it,” I said, exasperatedly. “Why else would these crazy people save our lives and take us down to their super secret underground hideout? And Lance wouldn't believe me!”_ _

__“Hey, it's not my fault! How was I supposed to guess that I had some weird power? And plus, I don't even know what my power even _is_!”_ _

__“Lance,” said the Princess. “You have the power to control the rain.”_ _

__“I _what_?!”_ _

__“Haven't you ever noticed it? Strange occurrences or feelings of weird energy surrounding you?”_ _

__“Actually, yeah,” I interjected. “Lance, remember that night after your ship was attacked by the Galra?”_ _

__“Your _ship_ was attacked by the Galra?!” asked the girl from across the room._ _

__“I mean yes, technically. It wasn't _his_ ship, but he _was_ on it so, I guess that sort of _does_ make it his ship? But, I don't know...That's not the point! That night we both felt it! There was that strange energy in the air. It must've been because of your powers!”_ _

__“Yeah, I guess…” he replied confusedly. “But how come I didn't know about this before?”_ _

__“Some Young Elites have their powers manifest late, or they only manifest in times of need,” the Jester explained. The Jester looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't quite remember his name._ _

__“What about the rest of us?” Even the black-haired kid whose face hadn't changed from the same annoyed expression looked a little surprise._ _

__“What's your name?” The Princess squinted her eyes at him as if she was trying to solve a puzzle._ _

__“Keith Kogane…”_ _

__“Have we met before, Keith?” Keith now had an expression of confusion that matched the Princess's._ _

__“No. I've never even seen you before.”_ _

__“Hm. Well, Coran?” The Jester nodded his head and I suddenly realized where I had seen him before. Back before the fever hit, Salutasan was on good terms with Altea, and Altean ambassadors would frequently visit the island. I had once been allowed to sit in during a council meeting with my mom where some of the ambassadors were present._ _

__“You're Coran! The Royal Ambassador of Altea!”_ _

__“Indeed I am. Unfortunately, the title doesn't do me much good anymore. But Keith!” Keith watched with a wide eye as Coran’s hand was suddenly engulfed in flames._ _

__“Keith. You have the power to control fire.”_ _

__“Really,” he mumbled. Keith looked at his hands, turning them over._ _

__“Pidge,” called out Coran. Pidge pointed at herself. “You can construct and deconstruct objects at will.”_ _

__“What about us?” The man with one arm pointed at himself and I. “What are our powers?” Coran closed his eyes in thought._ _

__“I’m not quite sure yet. Not everyone's powers are as obvious as others’. But you have powers within you. There's no doubt.”_ _

__“Wait,” Pidge said. “How do you know?”_ _

__“I know because I can sense you. In fact, I can sense the energy of everything and everyone around me! Young Elites like yourselves have a very distinct energy that I can sense from miles away. You see, my power is the imitation of other powers!” Coran picked a torch up off of the wall. The flames grew brighter, before going out completely. The torch fell apart, came back together and disappeared. “I can imitate the powers of any Elite around me!”_ _

__“Okay yeah, this is great and all, but I’m still confused,” I put in. “What are we supposed to do now? I get that you ‘need us’ and all but some of us don’t even know what our powers are, much less know how to control them.”_ _

__“That,” the Princess said sternly. “Is why you’re here. From now on, you will become a part of the Rose Society. And from now on, you will train.”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I appreciate every comment/kudos an indescribable amount. I may be AWOL for the next week, as I'm going to a county fair in a place that isn't likely to have cell service. (Wish me and my ducks luck). I probably won't be able to reply to every comment immediately, but I always will as soon as I see them. Subscribe to make sure you get the next update, and thank you for reading!


	4. Initiation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Monday update, sorry! I had a bit of a rough week and I need to relax a little before school starts up again. But how about that season three, huh? Wild. Enjoy!

**“I pledge myself to the Rose Society until the end of my days, to use my eyes to see all that happens, my tongue to woo others to our side, my ears to hear every secret, my hands to crush my enemies. I will do everything in my power to destroy all who stand in my way.”**  
**― Marie Lu, The Young Elites**

Keith Kogane, July 25

I couldn’t sleep. The underground catacombs were damp and suffocating and the pain from the wound in my side didn’t help either. Coran had patched me up, but it was still nowhere near healed. With the lack of even moonlight, it was impossible to see without some sort of torch or candle or something. And, luckily for me, I was fresh out of those. I layed in my creaky cot for what seemed like hours before succumbing to my insomnia and getting up to walk around. I fumbled around blindly in the darkness, keeping a hand on the wall so I could retrace my steps later.

The wall was cold- what wasn’t down here?- and covered in bumps from where it had been painted years before. Despite the seeming remoteness of the place, you could tell the underground tunnels once belonged to someone wealthy. I knew little to nothing about the history of the Galra, but some royal from years back must’ve requested having the tunnels built and had spared no expense in their construction. Even after years of erosion, the place looked almost as good as new, if a little dusty. 

I followed the tunnels down various twists and turns, taking care not to bring my hand off of the wall. Not really minding where I was going, I wandered down the halls, my bare feet silent against the stone floor. It wasn’t long until my hand ran into something hard and metal. A torch. Finding the object brought back the memory of Coran making fire out of thin air to light the torches. And he said that fire was _my_ power. I held the torch gingerly in my left hand, placing my right hand inside. 

I waited. Nothing. I thought back to when Allura had opened the door upon our first entrance. I put my hand back in the torch and closed my eye, trying to focus. Nothing. Thinking about fire? Nope. Clearing my mind? Nada. I began to grow frustrated, giving up and setting the useless hunk of metal back into its stand. Something in me decided that my little journey was over and I turned around, running smack into someone. 

“Ah!”

“ _Goddy hell!_ ” Whoever I crashed into swore and we both fell back onto the hard stone. “Keith?” I finally recognized the voice. 

“Pidge?” I stood up, squinting to see the girl on the floor in front of me. 

“Yep. You couldn’t sleep either?” I shook my head but realized she probably couldn’t see me. 

“Nope. You just about scared the life out of me there. Where are you from? I haven’t heard someone use the word ‘goddy’ in years.” I stood up and offered my hand out, pulling Pidge up to her feet.

“I lived up north in Arezey. Cold as fuck, but definitely pretty.” I laughed. Pidge leaned against the wall, most likely facing me, but it didn’t matter much in the dark. “Not used to hearing ‘goddy’? You must be from down south, huh?” 

“Yeah, out in the desert. Never gets cold there.” 

“Ugh,” Pidge replied. “You know, as tired as I get of our weather, I don’t think I could ever stand living somewhere where it doesn’t snow. “ 

“Hmm, yeah. I get that.” Pidge moved so her back was against the wall, and I did the same. “You know, I’ve actually never seen snow.”

“What?!” Pidge exclaimed, mouth agape. I laughed at her reaction. 

“Dude, we need to find you some snow soon. I can’t believe you’ve never seen snow! Like never in your _whole life_?!” I shook my head with a laugh as the girl screeched at me. We spent the next few hours sitting on the floor, sides pressed together, swapping stories. I told her about some of the craziest travelers I’ve met and she talked about lunatic customers. We both dodged any questions about either of our families, fearing that it would bring out unnecessary emotions that neither of us were ready to deal with. We kept conversation lightly, if a bit drowsily, and eventually, I drifted off, Pidge’s head on my shoulder.

I awoke to the sight of an orange mustache in my face. Coran stepped away, a wide grin spread across his face. He was already dressed, a white shirt under a brown vest overlapping brown pants and covered by a brown coat. _Gee, Coran, what are you all fancied up for?_

“Oh, good. You’re awake! The Princess is waiting for you!” He got up and stalked down the hallway. I realized that I didn’t know my way around yet, and jumped up, running after him. When I reached the main room, everyone else was already there, except that one tall kid. Lance? Lance. Yeah, that was his name. Allura rummaged through a trunk of clothes, pulling out various garments and handing them to the others. They all seemed to be drab colors, worn out-looking and plain. A pair of grey pants, a brown coat, and a pair of leather gloves that were probably the highest-end thing in there. 

“Keith,” the Princess commanded, waving her hand at me. I walked over to her and she just gestured towards a pile of clothes that had, presumably, been set aside for me. There was a grey vest, black pants, a black coat, a black scarf- to cover my hair, probably- and a leather eyepatch. Seeing the eyepatch made me suddenly self-conscious. I touched where my eye was softly, and Shiro tilted his head, giving me an empathetic smile. He pointed at the stump of his shoulder and shrugged. I smiled back, picking up the clothes and getting dressed. 

After I had put everything on, Hunk helping me wrap my hair up, Lance came trotting down the hallway, followed by a cheerful Coran. “Okay,” he said excitedly. “Now that we have everyone, the Princess can explain while Lance gets dressed. I looked at the boy, tan and tall, bony, with the slightest outlines of muscle tracing his bare arms and chest. My face heated up and I turned away. 

“Put on a shirt already,” I mumbled, annoyance in my voice. Lance scowled at me.

“Whatever, dickhead.”

“Boys!” The Princess shouted and I shut up. “Today we will be going into the city. 

“What?!” Hunk exclaimed. Allura ignored him and continued on. 

“We are required to make an appearance at a certain time and place, and the mission will also include collecting information. I understand that some of you may not have full control of your powers, or may not even be aware of them right now, but this mission absolutely cannot wait. I will split you up into teams according to who can control their powers.” Once again, I felt self-conscious. 

“Shiro.” The man looked up. “You will come with me to collect information. Pidge and Hunk will allow us cover to get in, and Coran will act as backup.” 

“What about us?” Lance asked, and Allura turned in his direction. She picked up his pile of clothes from the floor. The heels of her boots clicked ominously against the floor as she strode over to the boy, and it was easily one of the most intimidating things I’d ever seen. The Princess dumped the clothes into his arms, staring at him as he struggled to hold the pile. 

“You will make an appearance at the Fortunata Court, accompanied by Keith.” Lance and I looked at each other in disgust, and Allura laughed, walking off. “Good luck.”

* * *

Lance McClain, July 25

I couldn’t believe that I had to go on a mission with _Keith_. We had a group of seven people, and _of course_ I got paired with him. Gods help me. 

“Where are we even supposed to go anyways?” My voice dripped with disgust. The Princess ignored me, briefing the others instead, but Coran came over to me, patting me on the shoulder.

“You and Keith will visit the Fortunata Court and assure them that they have our protection. We’ve been helping them with security on the low-key for a while. Say something along the lines of ‘The Rose Society guarantees you protection for the next month’ and then they will give you a bag. Make sure that you don’t lose it. When you get there, just ask for Enzo. Piece of cake! You’re also welcome to stay in the court as long as you’d like, just watch out for Galra soldiers. We’re not sure if they know your faces yet, but it’s better not to take any chances. You may set off immediately. Well, after you get dressed, that is.” I looked down at myself, remembering that I was still shirtless. I nodded, beginning to dress.

After I had sufficiently covered myself, I followed the others down the hall. As it branched off, Coran led Keith and I down a separate passageway, opening the  
gem door and showing us to a flight of stairs before leaving to join the other group. I looked up at the stairs, hesitant to actually go up.

“Well?” Keith asked from behind me. “We don’t have all day.” I scowled, making my way up the stairs and making sure to kick some dust into his face on the way. He coughed, growling at me, and I rushed out of the door above me so he didn’t have any time to retaliate. The weather outside wasn’t much different than it had been the day before. It was grey and overcast, fog hanging low across the city. _Good,_ I thought, _fog is good cover._ Ultimately though, it ended up being useless, as the Fortunata Court doors sat right outside the exit.

I glanced up at the doors, covered in an elegant engraving of the gods of Love and Prosperity, Amare and Fortuna, locked in a passionate embrace. I suddenly realized where I was. _This place was a brothel._ I paused, my face heating up and Keith walked past me, completely oblivious. 

“Um,” I croaked out, trying to get his attention. He gave me an annoyed look and I accusingly pointed at the door. Keith squinted at me like I was crazy, shaking his head and pulling the door open. I sighed, following him inside. As soon as I stepped inside, I was immediately greeted with warm air, thick with the scent of incense. The light was low, candles hanging from the intricate wood arch that hung overhead. 

A girl with her hair wrapped in silk slunk across the wood floor, placing her hands on Keith’s shoulders and blinking her painted eyes at him.

“How can I help you boys?” She asked, voice dripping with sugary sweetness. Keith was completely unaffected and I stared at him, eyes wide. He looked uncomfortable, if anything. He took her hand and moved it off of his shoulder. 

“I’m looking for Enzo?” The girl’s expression changed and she smirked.

“Oh, I see. You’re looking for _Enzo_.” She gave him a knowing look. _This_ made him blush. 

“No, no. It’s not-I just…” He stammered looking away. _Wait wait, was Keith…_ I didn’t have any time to finish my thought as another man slipped into the room. He had dark hair, and smooth olive skin covered in elegant sapphire robes. His every movement was graceful and practiced so even the way he walked was enchanting. 

“Did someone need me?” The man locked eyes with Keith and approached him, placing a hand on his cheek. Keith’s face was beet-red and I wished I could’ve kept the image as blackmail for later, but even I could admit the man was gorgeous. The man picked up Keith’s hand, kissing it lightly. “Raffaele Laurent Bassete, at your service.”

“Actually sir,” I stepped forward in an attempt to rescue Keith from fainting. “We’re not here for that today. We’re looking for Enzo.” It took every ounce of willpower in my body to refuse the “services” he was offering. A famous poet once described a beautiful face as being “kissed by moon and water”. He gave only two people this compliment: the last Princess of the Feishan Empire and his mother. If that guy were still alive, I’m sure he would have agreed that moon and water loved this boy desperately. 

Raffaele backed away from Keith and I saw him let out a heavy breath. He waved his hand and the girl from before left the room. As she walked away I saw a dark green mark across her bare neck. She was a _malfetto_ too. Upon closer inspection, I saw deep-blue strands of hair weaving their way through Raffaele’s braid. I wondered how many of the other consorts sported similar markings. 

“We’re here as representatives of the Rose Society,” Keith told Raffaele when he regained his voice. Raffaele’s face lost its light, his mouth setting to a grim line.

“I understand,” He replied. “Come with me,” he instructed, turning down one of the hallways. Directly back from the door was a large archway obscured by sheer curtains. I only caught a quick glimpse of it, but it was most likely a room used for big dances or parties. The halls were lined with doors, probably leading into bedrooms. The thought made my face flush. Raffaele led us into a dark room that looked like an office with a bedroom branching off of it. A lamp was lit upon the desk and in the chair sat a man with blood-red hair and dark skin. At our entrance, he looked up and stood away from the desk.

“The Rose Society.” Raffaele said.The man nodded, approaching us.

“Enzo Valenciano, owner of the Fortunata Court. It’s an honor to meet you.” I shook his outstretched hand. “May I ask your names?” I glanced over at Keith. 

“It’s probably better if we keep our identities a secret for now.” Enzo nodded.

“I understand. Raffaele?”

“Here you go.” Raffaele handed me a leather bag and I was surprised to find it was rather heavy. “As always, you are welcome to stay here. Your, um, colleagues often object to hanging around longer than necessary, but our doors are never closed to you. We do have very nice baths.” Keith and I glanced at each other, all of the earlier venom gone at the prospect of having a hot bath. I didn’t know about Keith, but it had been months since I bathed, much less in hot water. I probably smelled awful. 

“I suppose a bath would be nice,” I offered and, for once, Keith didn’t oppose. Raffaele’s consort face slipped back on. 

“Well then,” he began, ushering us back into the hall. “Welcome to the Fortunata Court. I do hope that you enjoy your stay.”

* * *

Katie Holt, July 25

The plan was this: Allura and Shiro would take a route around the side of the Galra palace walls. She would use her illusions to get them inside, but she couldn’t hold them forever. They would need a distraction. That’s what Hunk and I were for. 

“Pidge,” she said. “I need you to use your powers to deconstruct part of the castle. Taking down one of the towers should be sufficient enough to cause most of the soldiers to leave the area. But, being in the area where the destruction will happen might be dangerous. Can you use your powers from outside of the castle walls?” My eyes widened and I threw my arms up.

“Hey, I didn’t even know I had powers until yesterday!” Allura sighed and turned away, looking disappointed. “I-I mean, yes. Or, well, I’ll try my best.” She nodded at me and led us out. We walked down the streets of the city, hoods hanging low over our faces. Numerous vendors lined the cobblestone roads, selling bowls of this or baskets of that. The commotion of the city was good cover, and although there were Galra soldiers on every street corner, none of them spared us a passing glance until we neared the castle gates. A few blocks ahead of the palace, Allura stopped and turned to Coran. 

“Coran. You still can’t sense any of Shiro’s power yet?” Coran closed his eyes, furrowing his eyebrows. 

“I’m afraid not, Princess. I can feel the tremendous amount of energy coursing through him, so there’s no doubt he’s an Elite, but I still can’t discern his power.” Allura sighed. 

“Very well. And I suppose you haven’t found anything from Hunk either.” Coran shook his head, and Hunk stared at his feet in disappointment. “Now. Remember the plan. Follow it exactly how I instructed you. Don’t let me down. “ I nodded as she cloaked Shiro and herself in invisibility. I ran around the side of the castle walls, Hunk behind me.

“So,” Hunk whispered. “You really think you can take down that tower?” The Galra palace was constructed with five towers: the biggest sitting in the center with the other four making a circle around it. They all looked really fragile from afar, but I had heard stories about the palace surviving numerous enemy attacks back when the empire was just the size of the this city. 

“I don’t know. But sure as hell I’m gonna try.” I circled around to the northeast tower-the farthest away from Allura and Shiro. I stared at the tower, suddenly at a loss for what to do. The only times I had ever used my powers, I wasn’t thinking about it at all. I could barely remember the rescue from the Galra, it was such a mess.

“Clear your mind, Pidge.” I jumped at the sound of the voice, forgetting that Coran was backing us up. “Close your eyes and focus.” I obliged. “All around us,” Coran continued, “Are threads of energy. They’re in everything. An Elite’s power is based on the ability to pull and manipulate these threads. So focus. Focus on what you _feel_.” I relaxed my muscles, taking in a breath. 

I felt something, that was for sure. I felt nervous. And excited. I was feeling a lot of things, to be honest. But nothing yet, as far as powers go. Bright flashes of color lit up beneath my eyelids and, suddenly, I felt it. The faintest threads of energy, tickling my fingertips, yet just out of my grasp. I reached out and _pulled_ , opening my eyes and focusing on moving parts of the tower. Hunk gaped, and so did I as the tower in front of us let out a preamble. A single, resounding _crack_ could be heard throughout the city and people stopped what they were doing, staring as the entire top half of the tower folded over. 

Allura had wanted us to stay outside of the walls to protect us from the damage of the destruction of the tower, but it was becoming clear that it wouldn’t be enough. “Run.” Hunk said, and we both took off, sprinting away from the crumbling building. The sound of the collapse was deafening. Glass shattered and hunks of stone hurled at the ground as we ran as fast as we could, not even risking taking the time to look back. 

We dodged civilians, weaving through the crowds. At some point, our hoods had slipped off of our heads, and now the Galra soldiers had locked onto us. Soldiers shouted and pointed, chasing after us as we continued running for our lives.

“Oh, great,” Hunk said sarcastically. “Like we needed any more trouble.” I pumped my arms back and forth, sprinting as fast as I could when I heard hooves clopping beside me. I glanced over to see Hunk who had somehow gotten himself a horse. I reached my hand out, and he grabbed me, pulling me up alongside him. I wrapped my arms around him and spared a quick look back. The collapse of the tower had sent a cloud of dust high in the air so I couldn’t properly assess the damage, but with the added speed, we were losing the soldiers quickly. I let out a victory whoop and Hunk laughed, snapping the horse’s reins and veering off in the direction of the catacombs.

* * *

Takashi Shirogane, July 25

The collapse of the tower was deafening. Despite the fact that it was the farthest away from us, dust whipped around me as Allura motioned me forward. She cloaked us in invisibility, but we probably could’ve gotten in without it. The castle was in chaos. Guards ran from place to place, trying to figure out what was going on. As soon as we passed through the gate, the Princess led me along the wall, up winding pathways to a secluded garden. It was considerably darker here, with the thick, overgrown foliage blocking out the sunlight. 

The place looked as if it hadn’t been touched in ages. Weeds and thickets climbed over cracked marble benches that lined the stone pathways. It was a bit strange seeing something so green after being locked up for so long. Once Allura deemed it safe, she dropped her illusion, allowing me to see her face. As usual, it was locked into a grim expression. She scanned the garden carefully before stepping forward, leading me through the bushes and trees.

After a few minutes, we came to a stone archway, under which sat a hooded figure. I braced myself, placing my hand on the hilt of the sword Allura had given me, but the Princess didn’t seem fazed. She walked forward until only a few yards separated her from the cloaked man. Her back straightened and she looked him in the eyes. He bowed his head, putting something on the floor and backing away from it. Allura waited until he was a distance away before reaching out to take the worn leather satchel. In exchange for the bag, she placed a heavy-looking sack down before walking away.Allura joined me back where I was standing before once again turning to the man who had already taken the bag she left. 

“I must say, Princess, your distraction was quite a sight this time around.” The hooded man quipped in a sing-song voice. The Princess smirked.

“You know what a fan I am of grand entrances.” The man laughed, turning away.

“Until next time…” He muttered over his shoulder. He ran off, and Allura stalked off in the opposite direction. 

“Princess,” I called out, trying to catch up with her. “What...who was that?” She glanced at me for a few seconds before turning her attention back to the garden in front of her. 

“I...don’t know. He says that he isn’t Galra, that he has no relation to them. Every month, he brings me vital information in exchange for money, although he claims he does it out of the goodness of his heart.” She laughs. “I’ve never seen his face, and I don’t know his name, but he hasn’t sold me out yet, so I trust him.” The Princess kicks at a rock. “The life Coran and I lead is dangerous, Shiro. But we do what is necessary to bring down the Galra at any chance we can get. Things have been slow going, and we have yet to inspire more than just a few fairy tales, but…” she glances at the plume of dust hanging over the city.

“Maybe this will show them. Maybe this will let them know that the Rose Society is more than just a myth. It’s a real thing, as intangible as it is. Maybe this will finally get become the rallying cry we need. Maybe this will put an end to the Galra once and for all. But of course, that’s something I say every day. Hope can only do half of the work. The rest of it is on us. That’s why the Rose Society is here.

“That’s why _you’re_ here, Shiro.” Allura stops, looking at me reverently. “Hope and strength are all we need. We already have the hope part down pact. Now all we need is strength. Will you show me strength, Shiro?” Her eyes alone could’ve given me the strength to run for miles. 

“I will, Princess. I swear it.”

“Do you swear on your life, Elite? Think this over carefully. Life is the single most important resource. More valuable than gold or water or air. Do not take it lightly.”

“I never do.” Allura smiles at me, and it’s easily the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. “I swear my life to the Rose Society. Now and forever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's chapter four! Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought of our friends from the Fortunata Court.


	5. Initiation II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New skills have been unlocked for the Roses and a secret makes itself known.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh! I am so sorry for the late update! I just started high school and I've been so anxious and tired that I just forgot :'( Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**“Embellish your flaws. They will turn into your assets.”**  
**― Marie Lu, The Young Elites**

Hunk Garrett, October 16

The months following the tower incident went by fast. Everything seemed so rushed, what with the whole “Galra empire war on _malfettos _thing” and the fact that most of our days were spent the same way. Wake up. Eat whatever’s available (luckily, we’d been able to buy some more food, so breakfast wasn’t awful anymore). Train, train, train before going back to collapse in our tiny rooms. The days sort of blurred together after a while. I would’ve thought that not knowing my Elite power would have me exempt from training every so often, but I guess not. Allura and Coran showed me different methods of hand-to-hand combat, and although I hated the idea of having to use it, it did make me feel a little more secure.__

Also, on that note, Allura and Coran were amazing! The Princess sparred like there was no tomorrow, she could _easily_ kick my ass, and Coran was somehow always able to take me by surprise. Shiro and Keith were clearly Allura’s favorites, as they took to the training very quickly. Shiro fought like a soldier, and Keith did too, as if they both went to the same super-secret fight club before they met us. It was crazy.

Along with regular old fighting, the Princess has had us battling with weapons, and using our powers against each other. (If you’ve never had to go face-to-face with someone who can control _fire,_ consider yourself lucky). She’d pair us up, one of us with a regular weapon, and one of that’s using our powers. So far, Pidge seemed to be the best at taking down people with weapons, due to her ability to break them quickly, followed closely by Keith. Lance seemed to be good at everything, winning about half of his fights with anyone under any circumstances. We recently had found out about his killer aim, how he could hit tiny targets from way across the room and even moving targets were no match for him. The nickname “Sharpshooter” had started making its way around. 

But, in comparison to all of the other fights, the ones between Keith and Lance were the most amazing. In the two months we’d been training here, there hadn’t been one battle between them that hadn’t ended in a draw, both of them persisting on stubbornly until they tired each other out. Strategically speaking, they were a perfect match. Keith and Lance had both made bounds in controlling their powers. Lance with his water and Keith with his fire, the two were insane. Crazy battles ended up with each singed and soaked respectively, unable to lay a blow on the other unless they used their bare fists. Keith could draw heat out of the air, and Lance could collect water, so by the end of their fights, everyone in the room was shivering in the cold, dry air. And, to top it all off, neither of them were ever satisfied with their competitions. They seemed to love riling each other up before just going at it and letting out all of their pent-up energy. They were complete opposites and they cancelled each other out perfectly. 

Sometimes, when we were on one of our rare breaks, we headed up to the Fortuna Court to hang out in the baths. Raffaele and the others were always super nice, considering they paid us. The baths were in this huge space with an open roof. Everything there was carved out of marble and the floors shined. Five large connected pools made up the baths and they were _amazing_. They were all heated and somehow always smelled like fresh flowers. With the air beginning to grow colder with each passing day, the hot water was a nice contrast, and it was a godsend on your sore muscles. 

The peace and quiet in the court always made everyone act a bit different. Everyone was so used to being trapped up in the dark, stuffy catacombs that the sunshine and relaxation cheered them up easily. Especially Keith and Lance. Usually, what happened was they’d start sitting at opposite ends of the pool and end up bumping knees with each other as they laughed about stupid things. The only one who’d refused to join us in the baths was Pidge. She seemed pretty withdrawn lately, always preoccupied with something she didn’t want to talk about. I’d tried asking her about it, but she would tell me that it was just in my imagination.

Someone who _had_ joined us in the baths multiple times was Allura. Despite Coran and Shiro’s constant insistence on her royal status, she rebutted that she, too was human and needed a break every now and then. The first time Allura stripped off her clothes and stepped into the water like a goddess emerging from heaven, Shiro nearly had a heart attack. He tried to cover it up, but I still caught him staring rather often. It was actually pretty cute. Allura never seemed to be embarrassed about being, well, naked. Shiro, on the other hand, could hardly sit next to her. His face was in a constant state of blush, so he often blamed it on the hot water. But anyone with half a brain could see what was actually going on. 

There were a few occasions when Raffaele would stalk over to whisper something into Shiro’s ear, making him blush even more than before. Last time I heard something about a “private room.” Shiro made a choking sound. He shook his head furiously, waving his hands in a _no way_ motion. Raffaele laughed that angelic laugh and said “Suit yourself.” So yeah, Mr. Shirogane over there had a huge crush on the Princess.

It was a on a rainy day that Coran approached me in the Court. We had been sitting in one of the many salons, huddling by the fire to keep warm. Coran spoke to me as we were leaving. 

“Would you mind coming with me for a moment, Hunk?”

“Sure. What for?” The Jester stole a look at Allura who nodded at him before taking everyone else back to the catacombs. 

“You’ll see.” I followed him out to the empty bath courtyard and stood on the cold, slick stone. Coran didn’t seem to mind the rain at all, letting it soak his clothes as he took his jacket off. From one of his pockets, he drew a small leather pouch. He grabbed my shoulders, moving me over to an empty patch of floor, and I watched as he knelt down to place something at my feet. One by one, he took a stone from the pouch and arranged it in a circle around me. I recognized them as the arrangement from the doors in the catacombs.

“This is something I’m still not certain about, so you’re going to be my experiment for the time being. Don’t worry, it’s nothing dangerous. But, if my thinking is correct, this should allow you to finally access your power.” I drew in a sharp breath. 

“Really?” For the past months, I had watched on as everyone became more apt at using their powers while I sat by, clueless. 

“Now, don’t get your hopes up, it might not work. I still haven’t tried it on a real person yet, so there’s no way to know what will actually happen. But I’ve been studying energy for years now, so this should at least give us some clue to what’s going on.” He stepped away from me and I immediately felt more nervous. “Now, stand very still and try to clear your mind,” said Coran. “Close your eyes, and focus on what you’re feeling.” I obeyed. I wasn’t feeling anything in particular, but I guessed that that was the wrong answer. I focused on my breathing, timing it evenly, and trying to think of nothing. When I felt relaxed enough, I spared a peek at what was happening around me. Several of the gems at my feet were glowing as if lit from within. Coran nudged the dormant ones away with his foot. The remaining gems were veritium, sapphire, opal and roseite.

“Stretch your arms out,” ordered Coran. I put my arms out at my sides, and the Jester placed the opal in my right palm, and the veritium in my left. “Now, don’t panic. You’re about to experience something very strange, but it won’t hurt you. Just stay calm, and close your eyes.” Her warning did nothing but make me more nervous than I already was. Regardless, I obliged, taking in a deep breath. 

I closed my hand around the opal, and it became very warm. Suddenly it felt as if my mind was no longer mine, as if something was digging through my thoughts and memories. I became very cold, shivering in contrast to the warmth of the gemstone. Something inside me snapped, and a memory was brought forward.

It was that fateful day again, when Lance showed up on the beach. He was shivering violently as I brought him back to my home. He woke up and we talked about the Galra attack, about our aspirations for a better life. We walked through the forest, and the birds flew around our heads, their wings glittering with a strange, mystical energy. Everything looked just the same as I had remembered it, but more vivid. Colors shone brighter and more alive. I could feel something strange around me, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was. 

As the memory faded away, the opal lost its warmth. The veritium in my left hand became very cold in comparison, and I felt that same digging feeling return. This time, a much different memory was brought back. 

_I was eight years old. Back then, the village was a much busier place. Traders from all over the world docked in the ports to sell their wares. Every house was filled with people. Bright, crazy, innocent, malicious, wild people. Just as it should be. My mother was an important figure, due to her hold on the treasury, and she would take me to council meetings often, sitting me down next to her so I could listen to the happenings of the town. I used to love sitting there and watching her handle everything. She was a hero in my eyes._

_I easily made friends with the other kids in the village, but my insistence on attending all of the council meetings often bored them, so I was on my own. It didn’t bother me, though. I had my parents, Mom the councilwoman and Dad the fisherman, to keep me company. My father often took me out onto the ocean with him, showing me how to work the sails and ropes. I quickly became interested in ship building and insisted that I was going to make giant trading ships when I grew up. Both of my parents supported me indefinitely._

_I was only fourteen when the blood fever came around. I watched countless friends and neighbors die before I myself caught it too. I remember my mother crying and my father always watching over me protectively while I slept. The day that my marking appeared on my neck, my parents cried from relief. According to the doctor, I was free from the fever. Although many weren’t as lucky as I was, everyone looked at survival as a blessing. Our village was reduced to a much smaller community and my mother worked tirelessly to try and get it back onto its feet. My father had to do double the work, thanks to the number of fishermen being halved. It was a time of struggle, but everyone was just glad to be alive._

_It hadn’t even been a year later when my dad set off for a fishing trip and took too long to come back. The trip had taken him farther north than he usually went, but he still should’ve been back. That was the only time when my mother had me sit out of a council meeting. Back before she had lost her hearing, she ordered me to stay home, but my curiosity got the best of me and I followed her to the meeting. Once there, I stood outside the door, listening to the worried voices of the council members. “We can’t allow people like this to keep coming into our country,” one said. “But we’re too reliant on them as a trade partner. Disbanding from them would be devastating on our economy,” argued another._

_”No. There is no arguing about it.” I heard my mom’s voice rise over the commotion. “After the blood of our friends and family has been shed, we cannot just give in. It’s final. The States of Salutasan will no longer continue trade communications with the Galra empire.” My heart sunk in my chest as I heard the reasoning behind the trade ban. I tried to believe it wasn’t true, but every logical bone in my body told me otherwise. There had been a Galra attack on a fishing ship in the northern sea. My father was dead. For months after, I had spent my time in the forest by my house. I refused to talk to other people, instead choosing to spend my time with the animals in the wild- the only ones who wouldn’t judge me or require me to speak. Because opening up to someone was the last thing I ever wanted to do._

I broke out of the memory, with a gasp, struggling to catch my breath. I had dropped the stones in my hands, bringing them in and pressing them against my face. I was soaked with rain, but the cold I felt was much different. It was the type of cold you could feel burrowing its way into your bones- no, your _heart_. I looked over at Coran, who stared back with a look that was equal parts fascination and fear. 

“There is energy in everything. It’s always around you, whether you can sense it or not. Elites like us are able to harness the energy around us to do amazing things. Each of the Elites also has ties to certain types of energy. This test was to find out what energy you align with.” Coran walked over to where I dropped the stones. “Opal. The memory that was brought forward was one of caring and selflessness. You might’ve noticed a strange energy around you when you rescued Lance. That was due to your powers.” The thought of Coran seeing my memories made me feel suddenly self-conscious, and it must’ve shown on my face because Coran put a gentle hand on my shoulder. 

“And...veritium. With veritium you re-lived a rather...crushing memory. Veritium represents knowledge and curiosity, held by the god of wisdom, Sapientus. Your curiosity was brought out when your mother didn’t want you to come to the meeting. I’m...very sorry for your loss, Hunk. But, was there anything that stood out to you when you felt that energy? A common thread perhaps?” I thought back through what I had seen, trying to avoid the painful parts. The only things that the memories had in common was…

“The animals!” Coran’s face lit up at my answer. 

“Yes, Hunk! That’s it. Your power must be controlling animals! How couldn’t I have seen it before! You always have had that animal-whisperer thing going on.” I looked up at the still-cloudy sky and laughed as the drops of rain fell onto my face. I jumped up and let out a whoop of pure happiness. 

“Is everything going alright in here?” Raffaele poked his head around the corner, a smile on his face. 

“Everything is wonderful!” Enzo joined Raffaele in the doorway, placing his hand on the other’s shoulder. Both shared a soft smile as my happiness bled into them through way of osmosis. I knew that they were happy for the same reason as I was. My discovery of my powers brought us all one step closer to the defeat of Zarkon and the Galra empire. Sure, I still wasn’t fully in control or even in awareness of my powers, but knowing was a start. It was a beginning.

* * *

Takashi Shirogane, October 23

It had been a week since Hunk had discovered his powers for controlling animals, and he had already gained almost full control over them. He could beckon birds of all sizes to land on his arms and called horses like someone who had grown up training them. Often times, we would be walking around the city, when a stray dog would find him and follow him around. It was miraculous. Coran, meanwhile, holed himself up in his tiny office, poring over pages and pages of notes for hours on end. When I asked him what he was looking for, he just replied that I would see later. I remembered him giving Hunk a similar answer last week. 

Training became much more interesting, that was for sure. Allura started bringing wild animals down into the catacombs and although the wolves and giant falcons often scared most of us half to death, Hunk wielded them like a pro. Now, when Lance threw waves of water, he’d get grabbed by a bird more than half his size and admit defeat quicker than ever before. Additionally, Hunk and Pidge never fought using their powers anymore because of one occurrence when Hunk sent a cat flying towards the girl and Pidge accidentally killed it. Pidge felt bad for days afterword, constantly apologizing, and the rest of us were too scared to see the gruesome sight ever again. From then on, the two only battled when one or both of them was using weapons.

I was the only one left in the dark about my powers, but because of it, I grew rapidly in the way of regular old combat. Allura praised me about it as often as she could, saying that I was the only person she’d ever fought that could truly give her a run for her money. I tried to stay humble about it, but on the inside, I was beaming with every compliment she gave me. Unlike Hunk, though, Coran never pulled me away from the group. He simply walked up to me one day after I had beaten the Princess in a sparring match and told me to stand in the center of the room. The rest of the group watched on from the sidelines as he recreated the gemstone arrangement from the door at my feet.

Coran laid out finely-cut diamond, smooth amber, glittery purple kunzite, and the opaque green prase quartz. He set down translucent veritium, deep red ruby, light pink roseite, mystical-looking opal and moonstone, aquamarine, sapphire, and finally, the navy blue nightstone, speckled like stars in the sky. “Close your eyes,” he said. I obeyed, shutting them and suddenly feeling off balance and strange. “Focus on what you’re feeling and clear your mind.” I tried to do as he said, taking a deep breath. The air was cold and musty, but I had mostly gotten used to it by then. I could feel the eyes of the others on me, and I wondered what their faces looked like. Would they be fascinated, scared, worried? Or would they show any emotion at all? Keith, for one, was pretty good at hiding his feelings but I wasn’t sure about the rest of them. 

I felt something weird inside of me, as if something was digging around inside of my head. It felt...unnatural and it made me shiver, suddenly feeling cold. I could sense some motion around me, and opened my eyes to see what it was. Coran was holding the majority of the stones now, only a few remaining on the floor. The ones that were there had an unusual light coming from within them. Wordlessly, Coran picked up the diamond and roseite, placing them both in my left hand.

“Relax Shiro.” I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding, and my muscles unwound. “Close your eyes.” As soon as I was once again met with darkness, the digging feeling was back. It was twisted and invasive and all wrong. It kept coming and I grew colder and colder by the minute. Whatever it was seemed frustrated and pushed harder against me, so I pushed back stubbornly. My resistance only made the feeling worse. I thought I could hear someone yelling at me, but it was hard to tell. There was a rushing in my ears that kept me isolated inside myself. I gritted my teeth, the feeling was now verging on painful as the digging feeling became rushed and desperate. 

“Shiro!” A voice finally broke through, it was Keith! I opened my eyes with tremendous effort to see the shocked and terrified faces surrounding me. Through the dust stinging my eyes, I realized what was going on. All around me spun a whirlwind, practically a full-on tornado. The gemstones in my clenched fist burned my skin, but as soon as I dropped them, the wind stopped. Across the room, Allura beamed at me with a smile that could solve world hunger. Keith looked frantic and worried. He had probably been seconds away from jumping in and trying to physically tear me away from whatever was going on. Hunk and Coran shared a knowing look while Lance and Pidge gaped.

“You can control the _wind_!?” Lance practically shrieked. A smile grew on his face and I just shrugged.

“This is as new to me as it is to all of you.” Keith finally broke and ran up to me. 

“Are you alright? You’re not hurt are you?” I shook my head and Keith visibly relaxed. Allura walked over to where I had dropped the gemstones and picked them up.

“Amazing! Coran, you didn’t tell me two people could share the same alignments!” The Princess flashed her thousand-watt smile at me again and I fought the upcoming blush. 

“I didn’t _know_ that two people could share the same alignments! This is incredible!” As he took the stones from Allura to examine them, Pidge butted her head in between them. 

“Wait, wait, wait. Hold on for a second. Alignments? You guys aren’t making any sense.” Coran gave Pidge the bag of gems and walked over to the door. 

“Every Elite has the power to manipulate the energy around them, and each Elite is better suited to different types of energy. These twelve gemstones are each tied to a different type of energy, and by using them, we can discern which gems you align with and which types of energy you work better with.” Pidge looked down at the diamond and roseite in her hands. 

“But,” Lance interjected. “How are Shiro’s alignments so amazing?” Coran took the gems from Pidge, putting the roseite in my hand and the diamond in Allura’s. Each of the gems began to glow, and Coran switched them, only causing them to do the same thing.

“It’s amazing because....Allura and Shiro share the same alignments!” He mashed my hand with the Princess’s and Allura’s face lit up. Her joy-filled eyes locked onto mine and the only emotion that I could feel at the time was _yes_. I was long gone, in this world of amazing and tragic things, I was sinking in too deep to ever be rescued, but when I looked at Allura, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be.

* * *

Keith Kogane, November 8

Lance was an asshole. I didn’t know what his problem was. We’d been stuck under the city there for months, yet he still hadn’t lost whatever weird grudge he had against me. No matter what I was doing, no matter how much I tried to mind my own business, he found some way to rile me up, resulting in an endless argument. When we fought during training, he stubbornly refused to ever admit defeat, and I still hadn’t won a single battle against him, even when he didn’t use his powers. Lance always found a way to avoid the fire I threw at him and I often ended up exhausting myself without being able to land even one blow. After we fought, he always ignored me and, despite my hatred for him, it made me worried. I felt like I did something wrong, but every time I asked him about it, he just made up some bullshit excuse and walked away. 

“Hey, Hunk,” I approached the boy one morning while he was trying to figure out a way to make breakfast. 

“Hey, Keith! What’s going on?” He replied to me, but didn’t turn away from what he was doing which, oddly, made me feel a little more comfortable.

“You’re pretty close with Lance, right?” Hunk laughed.

“Well, yeah. I’ve been pretty close to him ever since I saved his life.” 

“You...what?”

“Oh, yeah.” Hunk glanced at me over his shoulder. “I guess I never told you about that. When I met Lance, he was out cold, just laying on the beach. Apparently, the ship he was on got attacked by the Galra, so he jumped overboard and swam all the way to shore. But, as soon as he got there, he just passed out from exhaustion! He really knows how to push his own limits, eh?” I laughed. Every time we fought, Lance would tire himself out in his refusal to give up.

“Yeah, that...that sounds like Lance.” I sat down at the table in the middle of the room. It wasn’t long after settling in, that this room, the only one with a chimney of any sort, was deemed the kitchen. 

“Hey, could you give me a hand over here?” I walked over to where various ingredients were being cut up and mixed around in pots and pans. Hunk gestured to the stove and I nodded, lighting the charcoals beneath. “Thanks. Hey...are you doing okay?” 

“Yeah...why do you ask?”

“Well…” Hunk gestured to my hands. In the past months, burn marks had been forming over my palms and had just begun to reach the back of my hands. 

“Oh, those. Don’t worry about it, they’re not important. They don’t hurt either, so I’m sure they’ll go away soon.” Hunk took a long look at me before nodding and going back to his work.

“...Right. Anyways…what was it that you wanted to talk about?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Right. Um, so...since you’re pretty close with Lance, I just wanted to ask why...why does Lance hate me?” Hunk dropped the vegetable he was holding to look at me. 

“Why...why does Lance _hate_ you?” I nodded and he suddenly burst into hysterics, doubling over and clutching his stomach as he laughed. My face went red and I scowled. Hunk placed his hand on the stove before finching away. “Lance, haha, Lance doesn’t hate you, Keith!”

“What?!” He started laughing again and I felt stupid. But why was this funny? Lance had been a jerk to me ever since he got here! I wasn’t at fault here. 

“Keith, my buddy. My pal. Lance Angelo McClain does _not_ hate you.” What? _What?_

“Hunk, what are you talking about?! He’s hated me from the moment he saw me! The whole time that we’ve been together, he’s done nothing but provoke me and like, make fun of my hair.” It was true. He did make fun of my so-called “mullet” a _lot_. 

“Keith. Keith whatever-your-middle-name-is Kogane. You have gotta believe me here. Lance doesn’t hate you at all! In fact, he has a really big crush on y-” Hunk slapped a hand over his mouth, cutting himself off. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you that. Forget you heard anything!” Wait, what? Oh. _Oh. Oh, shit._

“WHAT!?” Hunk shrunk back.

“You didn’t hear ANYTHING, Keith! Okay! Lance definitely does NOT have a crush on you. And anyone who told you that definitely wasn’t me, no sir, because I am a GOOD FRIEND that keeps my friends’ secrets!” He was talking a mile a minute, meanwhile my brain had shut down. It was out of order. Closed for business. Because there was no way I would be able to process all of the information that Hunk was giving me without having an aneurysm. 

“Lance has a crush on me?” My voice was lower than a whisper, yet it managed to quell Hunk’s babbling. He sighed. 

“I guess.”

“ _Lance has a crush on me._ ”

“Well, gee, Keith. There’s no need to rub it in, I already know I’m a horrible friend.”

“No, no Hunk, you don’t understand it! This explains _everything_! All of _this_ ,” I gestured very vaguely to the entire room. “...is because _Lance_ has a crush on me! That explains, the the...all of it.”

“Yeah, sure Keith. But what’s gonna happen now that I told you? Do we just go on keeping it a secret? I mean, you’re pretty good at hiding your feelings and looking like you’re dead inside- no offense- but have you _met_ me!?” I nodded. He had a point.

“There’s nothing else we can do, I guess.”

“Unless…” Hunk looked at me mischievously. Oh no. “You told Lance that you found out and you two act like rational adults and confront your feelings. You could even go out with-” 

“I’m gonna stop you right there. No way. _No way._ ” Hunk grabbed my arm.

“Oh, come on. _Come on._ I was a bad friend and let Lance’s secret out, so the least I could do now is play wingman. And, you two would be perfect for each other!”

“Hunk, have you ever _seen_ us in the same room together? We would rip each other’s throats out within a week! We’re total opposites.”

“That’s just because you have all of that unresolved sexual tension around.” I blushed furiously and my eye widened. “ And, as they say, opposites attract-”

“That’s it. I’m done. I’m no longer in this conversation. I’m leaving.”

“Whatever!” Hunk called out as I walked away. “Go ahead and be emo and in denial of your feelings. You’ll just miss out on these delicious omelets I’m making! At least...they’re pretty much omelets…”

“They’re burnt anyways!” I shot back teasingly. A loud gasp came from the kitchen and I laughed.

“ _What?!_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm boo boo the fool. I completely forgot to give Hunk two moms,, I'm so sorry. I would've gone in and changed it, but it would've just contributed to my dead lesbian syndrome. As always, comments fuel my lifeforce and you can catch me on twitter!


	6. New Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are revealed. Emotions, secrets, love and hate and trust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! The name chapter! I hope you like it!

**“Trust is when we plummet into the depths of an abyss and reach out for each other's hands.”**  
**― Marie Lu, The Young Elites**

Lance McClain, November 12

“Rainmaker, go!” I ran toward Shiro and swiped at him with my sword, throwing water at him in the opposite direction. He blew the water away and easily dodged my sword, pushing me back before pulling out a dagger and rushing at me. Before he could reach me, a wall of fire sprang up between us and Keith kicked at Shiro’s legs. I saw a falcon swoop down towards Keith’s head and I hit it with a small wave before whirling around to try and distract Pidge from Allura. They were locked in a battle of who could evade the other better, Pidge using his powers to move himself around the room quickly, and Allura covering herself and trying to figure out the best illusion to throw the other boy off. I quickly drenched Pidge, but immediately after, felt a fist collide with the back of my head. 

“Sorry,” I heard Hunk say. I fell to the floor, but kicked his legs out from underneath him as I went down so that we were on even ground. I looked over at Keith to find him locking daggers with Shiro, a look of determination on his face. I pulled myself back to my feet, ready to face Hunk, when I saw Keith’s dagger disappear into Pidge’s hand and watched as Keith desperately threw fire, now at a disadvantage. I rushed over and blocked Shiro’s knife with my sword, giving Keith time to recover. He quickly stole Shiro’s last knife and began to fight with Pidge. Allura slipped away under an illusion of invisibility, and used her powers to temporarily blind Shiro. I saw Hunk try to stop Keith, but I got to him before he could, throwing water at him and knocking him to his knees. I put my sword to his neck and saw Allura do the same to a trapped Shiro. Pidge saw the state his teammates were in and dropped his dagger, raising his hands in surrender. 

“Fine, fine. You guys win.” I took my sword away from Hunk’s neck and he stood up, playfully knocking me in the shoulder. “But, come on! That fight was so unfair, you guys had Allura on your team!”

“Well you had Shiro!” I retaliated. 

“That’s enough,” Shiro interjected with a small laugh. “You have to admit that the fight _was_ pretty fair.”

“Whatever you say, _Windwalker_.” Hunk gave Shiro a sidelong glance. Allura had finally assigned us names to serve as our Young Elite personalities. 

“Hey, Shiro and I got the short end of the name stick. Ours are the most boring. Pidge got The Architect, Hunk got The Star Thief, and Keith got _The Reaper_! And what did I get? The Rainmaker. Why not just name me 'Water Boy' and Shiro 'Wind Man'?”

“Oh, whatever, Lance.” Pidge shoved me and I laughed. We walked out into the little dining room we had constructed. “Anyway…” Pidge looked at the floor somewhat sheepishly. “I have something to say.” Everyone looked at him expectantly and he cracked a shy smile, still not meeting our eyes. “I know you guys are always telling me to, uh man up. But…” Pidge looked up. “I-I can’t man up, I’m a girl.”

“Oh yeah I kinda figured.”

“Were we supposed to think you were a boy?”

“What?!” Everyone looked at me. “Pidge, you’re a girl? How?!” Hunk laughed at me and I gave him a scowl. He shrugged and smiled. I let out a sigh. “That’s cool, I guess.” 

Pidge sighed and laughed. “Well, that was a lot easier than I was expecting it to be. Anyways, I’m going to bed. It’s late and I’m tired. See you guys later.” Hunk, Allura and Shiro all agreed, heading off to their respective bedrooms, leaving just me and Keith sitting at the table. My top half was sprawled out on the table from exhaustion, but I was still too wound-up to go to sleep. 

“So…” Keith began awkwardly. 

“Yeah,” I affirmed.

“Hunk told me something the other day, and I uh, just wanted to…” _Shit._ I tensed up but stayed quiet, my head still buried in my arms. 

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” Keith affirmed.

“Um,”

“So…” I risked a quick glance up at Keith, only to find him looking away with a blush on his face. _Fuck._ I’d had a crush on Keith for a while now. It had taken me while to warm up to the piece of shit, but once I finally relaxed and got over my grudge, I _really_ fell for him. Oh _gods_. I knew I shouldn’t have told Hunk. I mean, I loved the guy, but he wasn’t exactly the most tight-lipped person in the group. But, I mean, that was what you were supposed to do, right? That’s the kind of thing you tell your best friend. Keith looked, down meeting my eyes, and I quickly looked away. I heard him sigh from above me.

“Look,” I mumbled. “I think you’re a pretty great guy Keith. I mean, you’re always doing cool stuff like winning all our fights and...wait sorry, I-I meant…” I looked up at him again, but this time, I had his full attention. “I...I don’t want this to change anything between us, okay?” I buried my head back under my arms and felt Keith draw away. I didn’t realize we had been that close. 

“Wait, you...don’t?” I pulled my eyebrows together and frowned in confusion. Unfortunately, the expression was lost, as my face was underneath a pile of arm.

“Keith, what do you..?” I looked up, and felt incredibly stupid. This whole conversation was going to be a whole lot harder if we kept up this loop of covering our faces when we talked. Keith had his hands over his eye and was facing the table. I could’ve sworn he was blushing again, but this time, I wasn’t sure why. Unless… “Wait!” I grabbed Keith’s wrists, revealing his face. His sharp cheekbones were shining red and his eye looked tired and worried. “Keith, do you..?”

“...Yeah.” He refused to look at me, so I put a hand on either side of his face and turned it towards mine, making him blush even more.

“You’re serious? You’re not like, playing a joke on me?” Keith’s face scrunched up really adorably and he frowned. 

“Why would I joke about this?” A grin almost literally split amy face in half. I was shaking. Literally vibrating with happiness. This was the best day _ever_! I felt like a thousand suns were burning inside me as I slipped my hands back into Keith’s. He finally cracked a tiny, crooked grin and looked at me. He looked the most relaxed I’d ever seen him and his eye was soft and hazy. They flicked down to look across my face and he suddenly leaned in, pressing his lips against mine. Woah. _Woah_. This. Was amazing. I leaned into the kiss and hooked a hand around the back of his neck, leaning across the table to get closer to him. Keith ran his fingers through my hair and held onto my hand for dear life. 

It was easily the best, most intense thing I had ever experienced in my life. Keith was all warmth and fluidity, his chest pressing against mine as the kiss became deeper and deeper. Even as the sound of footsteps faintly registered in my ears, I didn’t feel like stopping. Unfortunately for me, Keith didn’t share the same ease, and he quickly pulled away in surprise. I turned around to see the shocked face of Shiro staring back at us. I wasn’t sure how much he saw, but with the disheveled state I was in, it couldn’t have been too hard to put the pieces together. 

“Shiro! It’s-I’m, uh…” Keith stammered and I giggled, seeing him flustered for the first time ever. A soft smile pulled its way across Shiro’s face. 

“Come over here, Lance.” Keith and I shared a look before I nervously stepped away from the table and walked over to where Shiro stood. He gestured for me to come closer and when I did, I found myself trapped in a chokehold. Well, to be honest, Shiro’s arm was pretty lax, but that didn’t do anything to quell my shock. 

“Lance...what are your intentions with my son?” A moment of silence passed through the room, in which we all took turns looking at each other. Shiro’s expectant smile hadn’t faded, but it was finally Keith that broke the silence.

“Pffft, haha! Oh _gods_ , Shiro!” He burst into hysterics and the sound of his laughter broke the speech barrier for me as well. Before long, Shiro had let me go and we were all laughing our guts out, doubled over and trying to catch our breath. Shiro grabbed me again, ruffling my hair in a very big-brother-like fashion that felt nostalgic. I pushed away the feeling and laughed once more, peeling myself away from the bigger man. He clapped me on the shoulder, smiling. 

“You two should go to bed. Lots of training tomorrow.” I made a gods-please-kill-me-now face and he laughed. Keith joined me when I began to walk down the hall and I placed my hand on his waist, making him blush. “Don’t stay up too late, you two!” I winked at Shiro over my shoulder and Keith blushed yet again, smiling this time. I looked at him and frankly, even through everything I’d had to deal with lately, I felt like the luckiest guy on the planet.

* * *

Katie Holt, November 13

It was a relief that my confession went over as easily as it did. I hadn’t slept for days before, trying to work up the confidence to get myself to come out with my secret. It was...actually kind of disappointing that no one was actually shocked, well besides Lance. I suppose that it was still better than everyone freaking out, though. I slept way into the afternoon the day afterwards. From what I could tell, so did Keith and Lance. When I finally trudged out of my tiny bedroom, unbelievably grateful that Allura didn’t wake us early, I ran smack into Keith in the hallway.

“Well, haven’t we been here before?” I joked from the floor, remembering our first night with the Roses. Keith rubbed his neck and laughed. 

“Yeah, I guess. We might need to get better at looking where we’re going.” I smiled.

“Wow, Keith. Was that a _joke_?” He stood up, offering me a hand.

“Shut up,” he mumbled gruffly. I smirked and took his hand, standing up beside him. That’s when I noticed something: Lance was there too, standing in Keith’s doorway, looking on with a sleepy grin. 

“Lance? Why were you in…” I trailed off when I noticed their disheveled appearances and I finally put the pieces together. “Keith’s room.” I smirked and gave Keith a little shove. “Ohh! I see what’s going on here!” Keith flushed red and Lance stuttered in embarrassment.

“It’s not- I wasn’t- he- we weren’t!” Lance blabbered as Keith hid his face in his hands. I laughed as I watched the scene playing out in front of me. Lance’s voice jumped about three octaves once he could finally piece a sentence together. “Whatever you think is happening is _not_ happening. In fact, I don’t even know what you’re thinking because there’s _nothing_ going on here _at all_!” Keith grabbed his wrist, beginning to drag him away.

“Lance...let’s just go…” Just as he began walking, Shiro came by and stopped the boy with a hand on his head. 

“These two totally kissed last night.” I whooped with laughter as Keith’s brain seemed to malfunction and Lance’s eyes popped out of his head. 

“I knew it! Haha!” I ran up to join them in walking to the dining room, teasing the two as they held hands. I walked into the dining room to see Coran and Allura with maps and documents spread out across the table. “What’s all this about?” I asked.

Allura answered me without looking up. “Plans for the siege on the castle.” 

“Wait, really?” Hunk asked from the next room over. He walked in, carrying even more papers. “Isn’t it a bit soon?” 

“With the Galra empire constantly at our throats and the throats of the people, it’s never too soon.”

“We have a very important meeting tonight, and I’d like for all of you to come along!” At Coran’s words, the Princess’s face visibly darkened. “It’s with a group of rebels. Rebel...Galra. Needless to say, the Princess is feeling a bit apprehensive.”

“And I have every right to be!” She shot back. “After all that they’ve done...I am _not_ obligated to forgive them.” No one argued about that. Everyone shifted around uncomfortably in the following silence. 

“Still, Princess, if the rumors are true, we could really use their help.” Coran stared at Allura until she sighed and sat down. “They’re an extremely large group, with undercover agents everywhere. And besides...it isn’t as if we haven’t worked with the Galra before.” I thought back to the first attack on the castle we had, when Allura met up with one of the palace workers to collect information in exchange for cash. “The meeting will be at a nearby tavern. The owners are close friends of Raffaele and Enzo, so our safety has been guaranteed.” 

“We should probably go and start getting ready.” Shiro said, Coran nodding in agreement. 

“And tonight, we are going to need you to cover up your markings. The tavern, although guaranteed a secure meeting place, is located right in the middle of the city. Lately, there’s been an increase of Galra soldiers out on the streets, so we want to make absolutely sure that we aren’t recognized as even being _malfettos_. Raffaele lent us some cosmetics, so do your best to make yourselves up.”

“I can help,” I offered. “My mom and I ran a pharmacy and we used to sell cosmetics to _malfettos_ for the same reason.” 

“Wonderful, Pidge.” Allura brought me the bag of cosmetics and I nodded. “Now go and get ready. We must stay on guard tonight. There’s too much at stake to make even the slightest of mistakes. I want all of you to arm yourselves discreetly, do not leave the catacombs without a weapon.” Everyone except Shiro and Allura trudged off to their rooms to prepare. As I began to leave, I heard them talking behind me and stopped to listen.

“Princess, are...are you alright?” Shiro’s voice was laced with concern, and I could hear Allura hastily shuffling papers around.

“I...don’t know. The Galra are growing stronger by the minute, and we’re running out of time. If we don’t act quickly, all will be lost. I’m just...afraid, I suppose. Afraid that this meeting might cause us another setback. Afraid that someone might get hurt. Someone...that I care about.” I heard footsteps and the silence grew on for a few moments. I almost decided to leave when Allura spoke up once again. “The Galra have taken _everything_ from me, Shiro. My country, my people, my father. They’re an awful race, bent on the destruction of everyone and everything around them. Back when it was just me and Coran, it was easier. I always knew that we would be okay as long as we stayed together, so I wasn’t afraid of anything. But now…” Shiro cleared his throat softly before speaking.

“I don’t remember much about my time before the Galra. Just hazy little bits and pieces. But there’s something I do remember. Something a man once told me, and I must have thought it was important enough to hold onto because I still remember very clearly what he said. It was: 'To love is be afraid. You are frightened, deathly terrified, that something will happen to those you love. Think of the possibilities.' He asked me, 'Does your heart clench with each thought? That, my friend…' he said. 'Is love. And love enslaves us all, for you cannot have love without fear.' I feel that fear every day, with all of my being. But, Allura, the only thing stronger than fear is hope. That hope courses throughout my veins and my heart every time I look at you.” I finally got up the courage to peek around the wall. Allura had her head on Shiro’s shoulder, eyes closed, fingers intertwined with his. And then she whispered. It was so faint and quiet that I nearly couldn’t hear it. As Shiro closed his eyes and leaned back against her, she spoke.

_”I love you, Shiro.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for being late again;; I hope the names were on point enough, since I decided to use some of the names from the canon Elites instead of making up my own. It was a bit of a heavy chapter, but don't worry, next week's will be much worse >;)


	7. New Feelings II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Close encounters of the Galra kind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are about to get heavy...

**“Be true to yourself. But that's something everyone says and no one means. No one wants you to be yourself. They want you to be the version of yourself that they like.”**   
**― Marie Lu, The Young Elites**

Keith Kogane, November 13

The streets of the Galra capital were even busy at night. By the time we left the catacombs, it was well past ten, yet the cobblestone pathways were as crowded as ever. I always did like the nighttime better than the day. The air was cooler, and more humid. When it was dark, it felt like all your other senses were amplified. The smells, the sounds, the tastes, they were all more intense. This time wasn’t any different. As we got closer and closer to the center of the city, we saw more and more people- including soldiers. Allura was right when she said that the Galra had been increasing their forces. It was hard to find a street corner that wasn’t being watched by a stone-faced Galra in full armor.

Coran had told us to relax once we got into the city. It would help us blend in with the rest of population if we weren’t looking as on edge as we felt. At the same time, we were to keep our guard up. To me, these orders seemed rather contradictory, and were proving to be hard to carry out, but Lance and the others seemed to be doing fine. They talked normally, like any other group of friends just hitting the town for a night. I, meanwhile, was stiff as a board, keeping watch of everyone around us. I jumped when I felt a hand come down on my shoulder.

“Hey, buddy. How are you holding up? You don’t seem very relaxed.” It was only Shiro, thank gods. I let out a sigh, staring up at the stars above me. 

“Why should I be? I mean, we’re in the center of the city that’s currently waging war on everyone like me. One wrong move, and we could all end up dead.”

“I get what you mean.” Shiro stared at a nearby guard, watching as he inspected a passing cart. “This place doesn’t exactly bring back pleasant memories for me either. I don’t remember much from my time in the prison, but things are gradually starting to come back to me. The faces of the guards. The cold, dark cells. The experiments. Losing my arm. Seeing these guys definitely isn’t helping me gain any more courage. But...when I think of the life we could have after we defeat the empire, after we defeat Zarkon...it makes the hardships worth it.” He smiled at me warmly, patting me on the shoulder again before walking to catch up with Allura. As always, his words made me feel a little better, and I was able to relax a bit and just appreciate the feeling of being out there.

Eventually we came upon a large tavern located on the corner of two very busy streets. Peering inside the windows, I saw that the place was packed with people. Among them, many Galra soldiers. I looked up at the sign. The Beldain Tavern. A strange name. Allura pushed the door open as if she was just a regular old customer, looking to grab a drink with a few friends. She stalked up to one of the bartenders and whispered something. Not seconds after, I saw a young woman come out from the back. Her hair was long and curly, black as a raven, but it somehow looked...off.

“Maeve.” Allura greeted in a friendly manner. “It’s good to see you again.” The girl walked out from behind the bar to shake Allura’s hand firmly.

“You as well, Allie.” The alias wasn’t the best, but it was clear that Maeve didn’t have one ready ahead of time. “I understand you booked our party room in advance?” 

“Ah, yes.”

“Wonderful. Lucent will show you down.” Another girl came out, her hair flaming red. As she waved for us to follow her, I saw that her arms seemed like they were a different skin tone than her face. She walked down a hallway, and opened up a door in the floor for us. As we walked down the dimly-lit staircase one by one, a feeling of dream began to rise from somewhere within me. Every creaky wooden step felt like a harbinger of bad news. 

“Here you are.” Lucent gestured to the door in front of us. “Marmora is waiting for you. Forgive us for the secrecy, but as you can understand…” She pulled back her sleeve and rubbed at her arm, revealing faint markings that had been covered up by makeup. “Us _malfettos_ have been finding it harder to get around lately without being caught.” Allura nodded in understanding. That must’ve been what was wrong with Maeve’s hair too. It made me wonder how many other _malfettos_ were walking around in broad daylight, just doing their best to survive. Lucent ran back up the stairs, and Allura pushed the metal door open, revealing a small chamber with a long table inside. At one end sat a masked man, with two others standing behind him. There was one chair at the other end, most likely for Allura. The man sitting stood up, showing how tall he actually was. Man, were a _all_ Galra this big? 

“Please,” He said, gesturing to the other chair. “Come in.” We began to fill into the room when one of the two men reached out and stopped us. 

“Only three may enter. Unarmed.”

“What?” Allura protested. “That’s ridiculous.”

“I’m afraid it’s not, really.” The man who was in charge approached Allura. “You would easily outman us. And who are we to have that much trust in you?” Allura scowled. 

“This was a bad idea, let’s just go. No Galra are _ever_ going to help us.” As she turned to walk out, Shiro stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.That seemed to be his main strategy of calming people down.

“Allura, wait. We really need these guys to help us. Please.” She stared at him intensely, taking a deep breath in.

“Fine, but the rest of them are waiting outside.” The masked man looked to his leader, who nodded.

“I’ll allow it.” The man released the rest of us. “Choose two, the rest must leave. Do so quickly, we don’t have much time.” Allura looked at us begrudgingly. 

“Shiro and Keith.”

* * *

Lance McClain, November 13

“This is a load of bull!” I exclaimed as the masked guy ushered me out of the room. “Of _course_ she picks Keith!” Hunk looked at me quizzically. 

“I thought you and Keith liked each other now.” Pidge looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language.

“Well, yeah. But it still doesn’t make me any less mad!” The others rolled their eyes at me and leaned against the crack of the door, trying to hear the conversation. 

“What’s happening in there?”

“I..don’t know.” Hunk replied quietly. “But from the sounds of their voices, it’s not anything good.” I kicked at the ground, stirring up the dust under my shoe as I leaned against the wall in defeat. 

“Cheer up, Lance,” Coran said from beside me. “Everything will turn out alright. Actually, can I ask a favor of you?” I looked at him, confused. 

“Yeah, sure. What do you need?” He pulled out a leather bag with something heavy inside of it. 

“I need to you to take this to a place called Kenettra’s Pawn Shop. It’s only a few blocks down from here.” He gave me the bag, and I was surprised by how heavy it actually was. It felt like it was made of metal, but I didn’t think that it was money like the last time.

“Okayyyy. I guess I’ll go then. Bye,” 

“Goodbye, Lance!” Coran shouted as I walked up the steps. I could hear them murmuring behind me and I strained to make out words.  
“What was that about?” Pidge asked. 

“I just...hate seeing him like that. I can tell that Allura doesn’t have very much faith in him, in anyone really, and it breaks my heart to see him experiencing her lack of trust firsthand.” It was only mildly surprising to hear. I’d always known that I wasn’t Allura’s favorite. That spot had always been reserved for Shiro. But the fact that Keith _always_ took second was enough to get on my nerves. Like, sure, I was super in love with Keith and everything, but that really didn’t stop my jealousy. My hand clenched around the weird bag thing Coran gave me. It was spherical and bumpy. I wondered whether or not it was okay for me to open it, but soon found myself at the top of the stairs and decided against it. 

“Hey…” I looked to left, finding the redhead girl from earlier leaning against the wall and smoking some long cigarette. 

“Hi…” I muttered out weakly. She shot a look at the bag I was holding and I cracked a smile. “I’m just gonna...head out real quick. I’ll be back soon.” She nodded, looking away.

“Okay. Be safe.” I nodded before realizing that she couldn’t see me. 

“Alright.” She opened a door next to her that I hadn’t noticed and gestured for me to go out that way. I nodded and headed out. The air outside had quickly grown colder since we went inside. Winter was definitely here. I pulled my coat tighter around myself and put my hood up over my head. Unfortunately, my marking had been the hardest to cover. I couldn’t very well use makeup to change my eye color, so I just had to do my best to cover my face entirely. (And, _apparently_ , it was too suspicious to have _two_ people wearing eyepatches in such a close vicinity.) 

Surprisingly, the streets looked just as busy as they had before. A few vendors shouted offers at me from the sides of the streets and I raised a hand to decline. Even that late at night, I had to dodge the speeding horse carriages barreling down the streets. Eventually, I found the place Coran had talked about. It surely wasn’t the biggest place I’d seen around here, but it looked fairly nice. Outside stood a young girl, her black hair tied up elaborately and covered in small jewels.

“Come in, come in! We buy everything! No customers turned down! Turn your belongings into gold!” People spared glances here and there, but very few seemed to be going in. I crossed the street to where the sign hung overhead, reading “Kenettra’s Pawn Shop” in curlique gold lettering. “Welcome! Come right in.” The girl had spotted me quickly. I smiled widely at her as I went inside. A little bell rang as soon as I stepped in the door. Inside sat a tired-looking girl with an eyeglass on. The customer sitting across from her looked even more tired. 

“Look, ma’am. The quality of this watch really shows how old it is! These types of gears were only put into use a few years ago.”

“I swear, it’s my great-grandfather’s watch!” The woman had a strange accent. Most likely a foreigner who was unfamiliar with the area. “It was his most prized possession because _his_ father gave it to him. This watch is at _least_ one hundred years old!” The girl took her eyeglass off and popped the back of the watch back into place, sighing softly.

“Say that the watch was even _half_ as old as you say it is. Even then, the most I could give you would be 10 talents.” As the girl slid the coins across the counter, the woman finally gave in and agreed. “Hey, you should be happy. Gold is going up in value now that the talk of war is going around. I can’t exactly go around throwing money at anyone who weathers a watch that’s only a few years old.” The woman took a deep breath, trying to keep her cool, and walked out of the shop angrily. The girl turned away, running her hand through her jet-black hair and still failing to notice me. 

“You..ripped that girl off. Ten talents could barely get you a loaf of bread around here.” The girl spun around quickly. I took a step forward, and she narrowed her eyes at me. 

“What about it? You some kind of cop? You don’t look like a Galra.” She leaned against the counter, a taunting look on her face.

“And you don’t look like someone who’s well-versed in _watch history_.” This made her let out a loud laugh and her expression softened. Her dark eyes looked me up and down, as if she was searching through my soul. I suppressed a grimace. 

“What brings you here on this fine night, sir? Weary traveler? Trader? Nah, you don’t look the type.”

“I think ‘errand boy’ might fit better.” She chuckled in response, putting her hand out for me to shake. I gladly took it. 

“Adelina Amouteru.” I hesitated before telling her my own name, but figured that if Coran trusted them, I could too. 

“Lance McClain.” Adelina nodded and leaned back. 

“Alright, Lance. What can I help you with?” I pulled out the bag, setting it gently on the counter and watching as her eyes grew wide.

“A man told me to bring it here. Do you...know him?” She opened the bag almost too eagerly, pulling out the object inside as if it were the crown jewels. 

“Coran…” She muttered, and I nodded. The object in question was a large, golden sphere, covered in rubies and jade and sapphire. It was surely expensive, but looked sort of useless and ugly. Adelina didn’t seem to think so. She gently turned it over in her hands, running a finger across some sort of inscription that I couldn’t read. “That man…” She whispered, as if talking too loudly could damage the...thing. “He always comes through, doesn’t he?” Her words made me smile. It was true that Coran was one of the most reliable and caring people you could ever meet. His heart was even bigger than his mustache. 

“MAGIANO!” Adelina suddenly shouted, scaring me. She shouted the word a few more times, sounding like she was being brutally murdered. From the back of the store, I heard loud thumping noises, someone coming down the stairs. The door burst open to reveal a tall man brandishing an axe, out of breath. His eyes quickly locked on me, and I took a step back. Adelina quickly calmed him down.

“Gods, Adelina! You sounded like you were dying!” He looked exasperated yet relieved. 

“I _am_ dying! Look!” She pointed to the object on the counter. Magiano’s expression matched hers as he saw what all the screaming had been about. He looked quickly between the gold thing and me before speaking.

“You brought this?” I nodded nervously as he stepped out from behind the counter to envelop me in a giant hug. The guy was only like, an inch taller than me, but the fact that he was pure muscle made him feel so much bigger. Magiano set me free and slapped me on the back with a laugh, making me grin. 

“What _is_ that thing, anyways?” 

“Nothing you need to worry about.” Adelina replied. From the carefree way she spoke, I could tell that she meant it. 

“We did a few...favors for Coran a little while back. All you need to know is that we were promised payment beyond our imaginations and...well! Here it is!” Magiano’s eyes were shining and I wondered if he was going to cry.

“Once we sell this off to some dimwit aristocrat, we can finally get out of this awful country!” Adelina ran over to Magiano, hugging him tightly. He kissed her head and I suddenly felt like I was intruding. Luckily, they noticed my discomfort quickly and broke apart sheepishly. Adelina hugged me next, pulling back only to hold onto my forearms. “Thank you so much, Lance!” I felt like I didn’t deserve all of this attention just for delivering something, but I sure wasn’t going to complain.

“Lance!” Magiano sounded like he was singing when he talked. “Come out with us tonight, buddy! Let me buy you a drink.” I smiled but shook my head.

“Hate to kill the party, but I’ve got somewhere I need to be.” They nodded understandingly, each giving me another hug before I headed back outside into the cold air. As soon as I left, I regretted not staying with them. I mean hey, the Princess didn’t want me there, but Adelina and Magiano were practically worshipping the ground I walked on. No one would notice if I was gone for a few hours, anyways. I knew my way back to the catacombs by now. I should’ve just stayed with them. I started walking in the direction opposite of the tavern, not really knowing where I was headed. Oh well. Whatever, right?

The farther I got from the center of town, the less people seemed to be around. Eventually I came to a place, a park, almost, that was completely devoid of people. It was here, in this run-down, empty, dark place that I decided to sit down on a rusty old bench. I leaned my head back, looking up at all of the lonely, wandering stars that swirled across the sky like fairy dust. I took a deep breath in, closing my eyes. It smelled like rain. Like new beginnings, maybe. Or maybe I was just reading too far into things. I exhaled slowly, and when I opened my eyes, there was another person sitting beside me on the bench. I nearly jumped out of my skin. The man beside me chuckled, a hood over his face- not that I could’ve seen him very well in the dark. His voice was low and accented, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little into it. 

“Wha-What? How? Who..?” I stuttered, pressed to the other end of the bench. The man just turned to me and smiled. He had bright eyes, so light that almost looked yellow- a common Galra trait- and teeth that looked just a little too sharp. The smile he wore was neither warm or welcoming. 

“Nice night, isn’t it, _Rainmaker_.” At the sound of my Elite name, I jumped off of the bench, quickly pulling out a knife I had hidden and rushing at the man. Unfortunately, my actions had been predicted, because as soon as I came within a foot of the guy, he grabbed my wrist, twisting it to make my drop the knife, and spinning me around so I was pressed to his chest, his own dagger held at my throat. “Relax, friend. I just came out here to have a talk with you.” Like I was going to believe that. Pulling a stupid move that I’d seen Pidge do one time, I bent my knees, putting my head under his chin before heabutting him hard enough to make him let go of me. He swore loudly as I twisted from his grasp and leant down to grab my fallen weapon.

Of course, that didn’t go very well either. The man stomped on my wrist, making me cry out, and pinned me against the ground with his knee. “Now.” He said, gasping. “Please listen. I’m not going to hurt you. And I’m fully open to having this conversation on the ground if we absolutely must.”

“Right, like I’m supposed to believe you don’t want to hurt me after you held a _knife_ to my _neck_.” I heard the sound of his dagger clattering to the ground as he threw it away. “And how am I supposed to know that you’re still not armed?” He sighed, unsheathing what sounded like a sword before throwing the heavy weapon away too. I sighed.

“Now will you listen to me?” I took a deep breath in before nodding the best I could while still pinned to the ground. The guy stood up, and I scrambled back to my feet.

“But I’m keeping this.” I said, picking my knife back up. The man nodded and gestured to the bench. I sat down warily, watching as he did the same, his posture relaxed. He took the hood off his head and I couldn’t hold back a gasp. “Y-You’re…”

“Yes. Prince Lotor of the Galra Empire.”

* * *

Keith Kogane, November 13

The room where the negotiations took place seemed like the coldest place I had ever been. I had come a long way from my little shack out in the desert where nothing ever happened. It had only been a few months, but it felt more like years since I had met Shiro and been captured by the Galra. Now, we were in a room full of Galra soldiers who called themselves rebels. It was more than enough to put us all on edge. Allura sat down at the table, spine stiff as she stared down the men at the other side of the long table. 

“Let’s get straight to the point,” Allura said, her voice low and rough. “Are you going to help us or not?”

“Now, Princess. That depends on you. How are we supposed to believe that your team is as skilled as you say? The Blade of Marmora has been fighting against the empire for years now, and you expect us to immediately trust a group of kids who are little more than a street rumor?” This didn’t make Allura any happier.

“I could say the same for you. After your race tears up the lives of thousands, how are we supposed to trust a group of ‘rebels’?” 

“At least…” the man began, rising from his chair. “We have given you no reasons for a lack of trust. The only reasonable suspicion you have is based on your closed mindset.”

“And _what_ , may I ask, have _we_ done to deserve your suspicion?!” The Princess stood up as well, only much faster.

“We told you to come unarmed…and yet...” two of the men began to walk to our side of the table. “You do not listen.” Before I could process what was happening, my arm was being grabbed and I was shoved to the ground. Angry shouts of “Keith!” could be heard from behind me as one of the soldiers pulled out the knife I had tucked into the waistband of my pants. 

“Let me go!” I squirmed around in the man’s grasp, only succeeding in making him twist my arm harder. That knife was more important to me than anything. The thought of Shiro and Allura seeing it made me nervous beyond reason. I had no explanation for why it made me so anxious, but it did. 

“He has stolen one of our blades!” The words made my blood run cold. “ _Their_ blades?” 

“Hey, calm down. I’m sure there’s an explanation for this.” As if I was suddenly in a parallel universe, Shiro’s mediating tone did nothing to calm me down, instead only making me more nervous. He had surely seen the knife by now, hadn’t he? “I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding.” 

“Where did you steal this knife from, boy?” The leader questioned, leaning down towards me. 

“I-I didn’t steal it.” The man stood up, staring down at me through his mask. I had never felt smaller.

“You lie.” Suddenly, a sharp kick came to my ribs, knocking the air out of me and making my vision go blurry as I tried to regain use of my lungs. There was someone shouting again, but this time, I couldn’t tell who it was. 

“I…” I gasped, desperately trying to defend myself. “I’m not...lying! I’ve h-had this knife for my whole life! I didn’t steal it!” I could see the man preparing for another kick and curled in on myself in anticipation, but the blow never came. As I opened my eye, I saw Shiro trying to hold the leader away from me before being pulled back by the other man.

“Please stop!” As the man holding me was distracted, I rolled out from underneath him, jumping to my feet and grabbing the knife back. “Keith,” Shiro looked at me pleadingly. “Just give him the knife back, Keith, and this can be over.” I looked between Shiro and the leader. Shiro looked desperate and tired, more tired than I’d ever seen him. I could tell that he wanted this negotiation to go well so that maybe, just maybe, we would have a real chance at stopping the Galra and taking down Zarkon. And right now, the thing keeping us from coming to terms with the Marmora was me. The men, seeing me, had unsheathed their swords, anticipating an attack. Allura’s fists were clenched tightly as she stood stock-still, watching the men. 

“Shiro,” I croaked out. “I know you don’t understand why, but I need you to trust me right now. I didn’t steal this, and I can’t give it to them.” The conflicted look on Shiro’s face nearly broke me, but I didn’t have time to apologize before one of the men came rushing at me. I stepped back, dodging the first swipe, knowing my small dagger couldn’t hold up against his sword. I dodged best I could but was sliced across the shoulder, and had no choice but to try and block his blade with my own. I flinched, waiting for my dagger to break and a sword to be plunged into my chest. But, like before, it never came. Instead, the man had stopped mid-swing, just staring at me. The whole room had their eyes on me, and it took me a moment to realize what exactly had changed. 

The dagger in my hand was no longer a dagger but a sword. Long and curved, it seemed to be emitting a faint purple glow. Although I couldn’t see the men’s faces, their shock was easily read. Shiro, for once in his life, looked confused and Allura appeared to be shaking, an unreadable expression on her face. Suddenly, the leader stepped forward and slipped off his mask, revealing the worn face of a man who had seen countless battles. 

“You’ve awoken the blade. The only way this is possible is if Galra blood runs through your veins. “

* * *

Lance McClain, November 13

The smile on Prince Lotor’s face could only be described as diabolical. His soft lips parted wide to reveal gleaming white teeth- no- fangs. Soft, snow-white hair tumbled past his shoulders in a braid. His hair, I realised, looked similar to Allura’s, only lacking the curls. There was no way that he was born with that hair color.

“Done staring, Lance?” My name rolled off his tongue in a way that I had never heard before. I fought off a blush and looked away.

“It’s _Rainmaker_ , and yes.”

“Good,” Lotor purred. “Not that I minded.” This time, the blush came through, and the Prince chuckled as he saw me turn red. “I’ve come to talk to you, _Young Elite_. I’ve heard a lot about you and your friends. You sure have been causing quite a stir around here.” 

“So? You’re alone. What could you possibly do about it?” Lotor smiled, softer this time.

“You misunderstand my intentions, Rainmaker. I’m not here to capture you. In fact, I have no desire to hurt you or any of your team. I’m here to talk about an alliance.” I made a choking sound.

“An...alliance?” The Prince nodded. “If you want an alliance, why are you talking to me? You should’ve reached out to Allura. I’m not the one in charge.” Lotor leaned back against the rusty metal of the bench and sighed.

“No, you’re not. But…” He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “You should be.” I choked again. 

“W-What?” Lotor sighed.

“Well, I’m sure you understand, don’t you? You spend plenty of time around the Princess, so you know how she is. She has no trust in the Galra race. Actually…” He lowered his voice, turning away. “She has no trust in anyone.” I looked away too. I had seen how tense she had been before we left the catacombs, and the way she so easily pushed me away for the negotiations still made anger flare up inside of me. “You, _Rainmaker_ , are much kinder than her. I can see it, even now. You wouldn’t turn down a simple discussion between to possible allies, but if the Princess were here, I would’ve been slaughtered without a second thought.” It was true. All of it. The praise made my heart beat rapidly, and the mention of Allura on top of it had me gasping for a breath.

“The truth is, _Lance_ ,” _Oh_ , and there was my name again. “I hate this empire. Ever since the fever, my father has done nothing but push me away. Some deeply-hidden part of him still remained human, and he refused to kill his _malfetto_ son, but even as the general of his army, I haven’t heard praise from him in years. I’ve continued to carry out all of his orders as a coverup. Slowly, I’ve built together a large group of soldiers who, under my command, would assist you in the rebellion.” He looked at me and I looked away. Suddenly, his warm hand was pressed against the side of my face. I turned back to him in shock. “Please, Lance. Ever since the fever, I’ve done nothing but horrible things under the command of my father. Please, just give me a second chance, a chance to make things right.” His voice cracked at the end of his sentence. Lotor’s bright eyes burned with desperation as they stared into mine. 

Here was a man, barely any older than me who had done nothing but horrible things all his life, who had been pushed away by the ones he loved. Here was a man who just wanted a chance to prove himself. _How in the gods’ names could I say no?_ “Okay,” I whispered. Lotor nodded, smiling wider than anyone I’d ever seen. A tear slipped down his cheek and I watched him wipe it away quickly. I stood up and looked away. If I watched the Prince for another second, I’d probably end up crying too. 

“Wait!” He called out as I began to walk away. “When can I meet you again?” I looked over my shoulder. He had stopped crying, so I deemed it safe to turn around.

“Give...give me a week to talk it over with the team. Same time, same place?” He nodded. Lotor’s ridiculously soft hand came to my face once again, and before I could question what was happening, he pressed his lips to mine softly. His lips were just as soft as they looked, most likely a side effect from living in the palace. I watched his eyes slip closed as his long eyelashes graced those sharp cheekbones. After the shock had worn off, my eyes reluctantly closed too, something screaming at me in the back of my mind. As soon as he had came, the Prince left, leaving the ghosts of a whisper against my lips.

_”I’ll see you then._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things: I really wanted to focus on the way it feels to love someone and be jealous of them at the same time. I'm not really sure how well it came across. Also Adelina and Magiano might seem a bit OOC, but you might've noticed that I didn't make either of them malfettos, and I feel like they probably would've been much happier characters without that Tragic Past thing they have going on, ya know. Anyways, tell me what you thought, or if you have anything to say about the upcoming chapters!


	8. Breaking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things break, and are slowly mended. Healing takes time, but they can work with that

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A large portion of this chapter made me actually shake while I was typing it (I'm fairly surprised I didn't cry). I hope the emotion carried over.

**“Fear creates the strongest illusions. Everyone has darkness inside them, however hidden.”**  
**― Marie Lu, The Young Elites**

Hunk Garrett, November 14

By the time we finally left the tavern, it was well past midnight. Allura, Shiro, and Keith had seemed to have reached some sort of agreement with the Blade of Marmora, and they left the room with grim expressions on their faces. Shiro was the only one offering any kind of explanation, saying that they had ‘Reached a common understanding’ and I had ‘nothing to worry about’. Apparently, they were all just very tired and they would explain when they all got a some rest. I didn’t buy it, but stopped questioning. Lance had returned late. Much, much later, as Coran said, than it should’ve taken him to deliver the bag. He seemed in a weird sort of dazed state the whole time we walked back. I asked him about it and got the same answer that everyone else gave me. He was tired. _Yeah, right._ I could sense that something was off, there was a weird rift between everyone that hadn’t been there before, and I had no idea what to do about it. It was kind of frustrating. As we all settled into our separate rooms, there were no words. Everyone seemed to be in shock or something.

“Hunk,” Pidge whispered to me, grabbing my arm once everyone else was out of earshot. “What’s going on? Everyone’s acting really weird. Even _Shiro_ won’t talk to me. Something has got to be going on.” I sighed.

“I know. I just can’t figure out what it is. Lance is all spaced out, and Keith looks like he aged ten years in the time he was in that room. Allura won’t get within ten feet of any of us, and Shiro looks like someone just killed his dog, or something.”

“Maybe, lets just...wait until the morning.” I looked down at Pidge. Her glasses sat on the edge of her nose and bags sat under her eyes. There was no doubt that she, at least, was tired. I was too, in all honesty. I had been up for a long time, and stressing out over the emotional state of my friends wasn’t helping at all. 

“Alright. Come see me in the morning so we can make a plan of attack. I have a bad feeling about all of this.” She nodded absently, patting me on the arm with silent affection before turning away and going into her own tiny room. I went back to my bed, falling asleep warily, only to be woken up a few hours later as Pidge padded into my room quietly, setting cushions down next to my bed and falling asleep on the floor. 

The following morning, the sound of footsteps falling in the hallway woke me from my restless sleep. I shot up out of bed quickly. “Pidge,” I whispered. “Pidge! Wake up!” The girl on the floor didn’t make any signs of hearing me so I stepped over her carefully and opened the door. A familiar brunet stood a few feet away from me. “Lance?” He turned around quickly. 

“Oh, hey Hunk. Uh, how...how’s it going? Did you sleep okay?” He stuttered and refused to meet my eyes. 

“Did something...happen last night, Lance?” The boy looked around frantically. 

“Uh, no? What...hah, what makes you think that, buddy?” I squinted at him as he rubbed the back of his neck. Lance seemed...guilty for some reason. I tried to think back on what had happened the night before, but nothing out of the ordinary came to mind. Something must have happened while he was out.

“I don’t know, you’ve just been acting...pretty weird ever since last night.” He gave me a defeated look, sighing heavily. 

“Well, uh...I just...um, I’ll...I’ll tell you later, okay?” Lance smiled at me, almost sadly. It kinda freaked me out, seeing him in this mood. I’d seen him happy and scared and angry before (especially angry) but I had never really seen him looking so upset. It was kinda shocking to see a guy like Lance, who was constantly cracking jokes to cheer other people up, needing to be cheered up himself. 

“O...kay. Promise you will?” He smiled a little, and I instantly felt relief flowing through me, however small. 

“I promise, dude.” I nodded as he walked off and a door hit me in the back.

“Oops,” came a small voice from behind me.

“G’morning, Pidge.” I stepped away from the door to let her out as she mumbled some sort of greeting. Her hair was ruffled up and she was missing her glasses. “Um, Pidge?” She looked up at me and I pointed at her face. Pidge made a sort of facepalm motion to see what was wrong. She seemed to realize what she was missing, but just waved her hand in dismissal. I wondered if she even needed them to see, but figured that there were much more pressing questions that needed to be asked.

“What should we do?” She gave me a questioning look. “When we get in there? With the team?” Pidge just sighed, rubbing her hands across her face. 

“Slow down, there, Hunk. I’m not really a morning person. Let’s just...wing it, I don’t know. These are our friends we’re talking about. We’ve been stuck in these shitty catacombs together for what, five months? There’s guaranteed to be some stuff going around, especially with all the stress we’re under, but it’ll all work out. It has to.” Her words weren’t the most comforting ones ever, but they were good enough. We walked down the cold, stone hallways into the dining room. 

From what I saw last night, the scene in the dining room shouldn’t have surprised me as much as it did. Everyone seemed to be sitting as far away from each other as possible, aside from Shiro and Allura. Keith sat along one of the walls, a torch in his hand. He repeatedly lit and extinguished the flames, giving the fire his full attention. Lance was on the wall opposite of Keith, putting as much distance as possible between them. Despite their separation, _Keith_ had Lance’s full attention and Keith seemed to know that. Allura and Shiro sat opposite each other at the table, Allura taking the side closer to Lance and Shiro taking the one closer to Keith. It all seemed to be one big staring competition as Allura refused to meet anyone’s eyes, focusing on a nearby bug crawling across the floor. Shiro looked at Allura like she was the aforementioned puppy that had died. I felt lost.

As soon as Pidge and I stepped into the room, all eyes were on us. Keith and Allura glanced at us quickly before looking away again, and Shiro gave us a sympathetic smile. I gave a small wave before walking over to where we kept the food stuff. “So, uhh...has anyone eaten? You guys want something to eat?” I was greeted by the same deafening silence as before. Shiro cleared his throat.

“That would be great, Hunk. Thanks.” I started rooting through the bread and fruit we had. It wasn’t easy to keep food down here for long, due to the moisture. Things got moldy really quickly. Luckily, we had passed the warmer months, where it was REALLY hard to have food for any length of time. I sliced up bread, putting a few pieces in separate bowls. I cut up some apples and the last of the good cheese we had bought too. Keith and I were the only ones in the room making any noise. The soft sounds of metal clinking and fire crackling echoed like screams in the quiet room. Pidge had flopped down on the table next to Shiro, her head in her arms. She really _wasn’t_ a morning person, though, so I didn’t blame her. After I dished up a little breakfast for everyone I walked around to hand it out. Shiro and Allura finally relaxed a bit when I gave them their food, but Pidge didn’t even react when I set her bowl down next to her. I wondered if she had fallen asleep. Keith finally looked up and gave a me a little smile when I gave him his bowl, which seemed to just make Lance more uncomfortable. Everyone had _really_ had a bad night. Keith seemed happier when he was hungover. As Coran stepped into the room, I handed him his food which he thanked with the same smile everyone else had given me- sad and apologetic. He sat down across from Pidge and next to Allura. 

After a few minutes of eating, the tension in the room seemed to lighten, if only a little. Pidge woke up when Coran had decided to hand out cups of water to everyone. She looked unashamed to stare at everyone in the room, locking eyes with each of them one by one. When Pidge stared at you, you could feel it on your skin. She wasn’t the best at reading people, but for such a small girl, she was pretty intimidating. Eventually she seemed to have had enough with just staring at people, and stood up from her place at the table. 

“Okay, since all of you seem to be incapable of expressing your feelings and explaining what’s going on, we’re going to go around around the room and explain _exactly_ how each of our nights went and how each of us felt about it. _Lance_ , why don’t you start.” It wasn’t a suggestion. Lance looked like he had just been accused of murder. He looked around the room with wide eyes, desperately searching for an excuse. 

“Okay,” he croaked, his voice about three octaves higher than usual. “I’ll go first since I have _nothing_ to hide because _nothing_ happened last night. I went to the tavern with all of you, and after the _Princess_ decided to take Shiro and Keith in with her, Coran sent me out to try and spare my feelings.” Coran and Allura whipped their heads around. “ _Yes_ , I heard that. So, I went to the pawn shop and gave a...thing to two _very grateful_ shop owners who offered to take me out for drinks, and, while we’re on the topic of feelings, I feel a _very deep regret_ that I didn’t take them up on their offer, seeing how many people are asking for my company down here.”

“Lance-” Shiro stood up, ready to rebut his point, but Lance quickly cut him off. From across the room, Keith watched with a wide eye. 

“No!” His voice shook. “I’m not done. Yeah, I was gone for longer than I should’ve been. Because once I left that shop, I said to myself, ‘Hey, no one’s going to miss you if you’re out for a couple extra hours,’ so I decided to take a little walk by myself. And, believe it or not, I met someone very interesting on my walk. I had a conversation with a very nice man, a very nice _Galra_.” The shock on everyone’s faces was lighting sparks in the air. It felt like the room was on fire. Allura’s fists were clenched tightly at her sides, knuckles white. I hadn’t noticed her and Coran standing up. “ _Oh_ , and that’s not even the best part! Anyone have any guesses on who that Galra was? No? _No one_ has any idea on who the wonderful Galra was that just _happened_ to find Lance last night while he was out walking by himself? Well, that’s okay, because I’ll tell you. The ever-so-gracious Galra that found Mr. Lance McClain last night just happened to be _mother-fucking PRINCE LOTOR OF THE GALRA EMPIRE_!” My blood ran cold. Lance had met up with _Lotor_?! The Prince and cold-blooded general of the Galra empire?! Allura looked ready to rip Lance’s throat out, and Shiro had clearly thought the same thing, setting a gentle hand on her shoulder, only for her to shake it off, giving him a look that could kill.

“Oh yeah, and _Mr. Prince_ had a very interesting offer to give me. Something that might interest you. Prince Lotor wanted to form an _alliance_ with the _Rose Society_.” Allura couldn’t keep silent any longer.

“Lance, we can’t trust him!” 

“OH YEAH, because YOU know so much about _TRUST_!” Allura reeled as if she had been slapped. “Ah yes, and what’s the reason why we can’t trust him? Because he’s a Galra? And _all Galra_ are inherently evil?” At this, he gestured to Keith. Keith looked torn between crying and leaving the room. “ _Oh yeah_ , don’t think I didn’t overhear that conversation between you and Shiro last night! You have no trust at all in Keith after finding out ‘he has Galra blood in his veins’! Who’s going to become your third-in-command now, _Princess_? It certainly won’t be me, so maybe Hunk? Or Pidge? Which one of their self-esteems are you going to crush when you decide to pick favorites? Will you even notice when you do it?”

“Lance,” I interrupted, my own voice shaking as well. “What is this about?”

“This is about how Allura has _zero_ trust in _anyone_ unless they’re Mr. Perfect over here! It’s about how she’s too _goddamn stubborn_ to look past her own feelings and see what might actually be the best for the rest of us. Like we haven’t noticed you doting on Shiro. She’s so self-centered that she doesn’t even have her _royal advisor_ come with her into a diplomatic meeting. So wrapped up in herself that she can’t even bear the possibility of being within 50 feet of a Galra-”

“I’ll have you know,” Allura was shouting now, and looked on the brink of tears. “That the Galra single-handedly destroyed my _entire country_. Yeah. It wasn’t brought down by the fever. That’s what they decided to tell everyone since the fever outbreak came at around the same time, but the fever took almost _no one_ from Altea. It was all _them_! Those _monsters_ came in and waged total war on our country, they destroyed _everything_. I have _nothing_ because of them. No family, no people! And you expect me to just-”

“YOU HAVE US!” My head whipped around. Keith was full-on crying as he pulled out his knife and threw it to the ground. “You have us! Aren’t we enough?! _Aren’t we enough?_ At least you _had_ a family! My father _died_ in the fever and I never even _met_ my mom! Now I’m learning that she might be Galra! Do you think this is _easy_ for me?! You people were the only family I ever had! And now...now, you’re treating me like I’m an outcast, like I’m some… _monster_! Even you, Lance! Why you? I...I thought…” Lance tore his eyes away from Keith.

“Prince Lotor kissed me.” Keith looked frozen where he stood. “I-” before Lance could say anything else, Keith darted down one of the hallways. “Keith, wait!” Lance’s voice was broken as he watched the other boy turn his back. Pidge was the only one to run after him, the rest of us staying still as statues as we watched the commotion in front of us. I felt my heart fluttering like a hummingbird’s and briefly wondered if I was still alive. It had become hard to tell.

* * *

The Galra Palace, November 19

“Lord Zarkon, Haggar requests your presence.” The emperor looked down at the guard bowing beneath him. 

“Bring her in.” The guard nodded, running off as the doors to the throne room creaked open heavily. The witch stalked in slowly, approaching him and taking a seat at her throne beside him. “What is it?” 

“Lord Zarkon, _malfetto_ support has been growing quickly, not only in the city, but throughout the whole empire.” 

“Tell me something I don’t already know, Haggar.”

“Well,” she looked at Zarkon accusingly. “Don’t you think that we should do something about it?” He glanced over at her, seeing the frustration on her face.

“This will settle itself, as all things do. Their disagreement will be quickly stamped out by the strength of my empire.” Haggar muttered something under her breath. It sounded vaguely like ‘ _Our_ empire,’ but Zarkon made the deliberate decision to ignore it. 

“But sire, there is speak of a _revolution._ We already know that there is a traitor in the palace, why take the risk of letting these people into our city?” Haggar stood up directly in front of the emperor, making him look at her. Zarkon stood up, towering over the small woman. 

“And WHAT,” he said loudly, before fixing his volume back down to a whisper. “Do you propose we do about it?”

“It’s just as I said before, _Emperor_ , why should we even let these people live within our capitol? It may be our most fortified city, but once they are inside, they become a parasite, wedging themselves into every crack and crevice and slowly killing off this glorious nation we have built.”

“Weakness is an infection,” he replied. “It’s better to cut it off than let it spread.” Haggar cracked a ghastly smile. 

“Exactly.” Zarkon sat back down into his throne, sharing a look with Haggar. They reached a mutual understanding with just a glance and Haggar finally looked satisfied. 

“Alert Sendak to send out a message. Make sure it’s done by morning. I can’t let a second go to waste for the sake of my empire.” Haggar’s face twisted up into a snarl and she spun around on her heel. She stalked across the throne room, stopping just before the doors.

“I swear it shall be done.” She stepped out and the doors slammed behind her. Zarkon sat back onto his throne, glancing at Haggar’s spot beside him. She never did join him in the throne room anymore.

* * *

Katie Holt, November 20

It had been nearly a week since the team had miraculously self-destructed within the space of an hour. Things had been, well, quiet since then. People only talked to each other when it was absolutely necessary, and the tension was so thick that it made it hard to breathe. I tried and failed to console Keith that day, but, finding it fruitless, opted to spend the rest of the day at the Fortuna Court. Raffaele and Enzo were always understanding, no matter what was going on. I found myself falling asleep in one of the hot springs, only to be woken up by Keith silently stepping into the water across from me. I smiled at him and he gave a pathetic little half-grimace in response. It was enough. We both wordlessly reached an understanding, relaxing into the hot water next to each other. 

After that, we spent more and more time in the Court, eventually working our way up to small talk. He would mention something about how he loved the cold weather, to which I would express my animosity for it. Keith loved to talk about his house back in the desert in Asapier, the travelers he met, and the many times he had to fight for his life. In a few days, we had decided to go back to training, picking one of the less-used rooms in the catacombs. We thought we were being sneaky enough, but one morning, we came into the room just to find a pile of modified weapons- no doubt coming from Hunk. He had come up with some strange four-in-one weapon that, using my powers, I could break apart and re-make into new weapons for various uses. For Keith, there were swords and knives that could be coated in some super-flammable substance so that he could essentially light his weapons on fire. They were pretty awesome. There were things for the rest of the team, too. Serrated arrows for Lance, an extra-light sword for Shiro (though I doubted he needed it), a staff for Allura, and axes for Coran. They were amazing, and must’ve taken him forever to make. 

One day, Hunk even met us in the room himself, smiling sheepishly and holding a mace he made for himself. That was when I knew things were getting better. A few days of fighting each other seemed to make the three of us a bit more comfortable (except for that one time Hunk covered me in cockroaches from deep underground, _uhhhhh_ , I didn’t think I’d ever recover). Things finally seemed to be looking up. Lance had finally started eating with the rest of the team again, and Allura would finally look at Keith! Yeah, it doesn’t seem like much, but it was progress. I had never seen everyone so upset, it was hard to figure out what to do. These were people I had only known for a few months, I had no idea how to comfort them. Luckily for me, things seemed to be working themselves out pretty well.

....Until I woke up to the sounds of shouting. My first thought was that someone had struck a nerve again, and I was going to walk into another room filled with crying people. What I found was much worse. Coran sat at the table, face in his hands, and Allura stood next to him, looking disheveled. 

“Wait, what’s going on?” I whispered. Hunk answered without looking away from the scene in front of us. 

“Message directly from the palace. Not good.” Shiro did his trademark hand-on-shoulder comforting technique, but the Princess didn’t even seem to notice it.

“This is it, _this is it_! We cannot stay silent any longer!” Keith walked into the room, confusedly. 

“Whoa, whoa, slow down. What’s going on?”

“We were just given a message from the Blade of Marmora,” Coran explained. “Their confident in the palace tells us that there has been an order to take all _malfetto_ prisoners into work camps outside the city. Any who resist will be killed.” The room was silent as everyone held their breath. _Everyone?_ I had talked to Coran about my family, the probablility that they might’ve been captured by the Galra, and he said it was very likely. If no one had found them in the three years they’d been gone, it was likely that they had indeed been imprisoned. The thought of what Matt and my father might be going through right now was enough to make me want to throw up. What if they were already dead?

“Allura’s right, we _have_ to act now.” I was the first one to break the silence. 

“But we’re not ready,” Keith argued.

“We _have to be_. There are innocent people dying out there! We can’t just let this happen.” 

“Pidge is right,” Shiro interjected. “But what can we do? Even with the Blade of Marmora standing behind us, we don’t have enough men.”

“Princess?” Coran asked lightly. Allura had closed her eyes, setting her hands against the various maps and documents laying sprawled across the table. She drew in a long, slow breath, letting out her frustration as she exhaled. 

“Lance,” all eyes went to the boy in the doorway. I hadn’t even heard him come in. “You’re going to see Lotor tonight, aren’t you?” He nodded ashamedly, as if he had been planning to go back whether or not she approved. “Tell him…” her voice shook. “Tell him we agree to an alliance.” Lance’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, and I figured mine probably did too. “On _one_ condition. He must meet with _me_ personally, and pledge his _undying loyalty_ to the Rose Society just as all of you did.” Lance nodded.

“I’ll…I’ll tell him.” The Princess gave him a curt nod in response. 

“Pidge will accompany you. The rest of us will meet with the Blade of Marmora at the Fortuna Court to discuss plans.” Everyone nodded. The rest of the day was spent talking with each other about what we were going to do. I showed Lance the special arrows Hunk had crafted for him, and watched his face light up. He looked like he might cry. Lance told me about the Prince, while Keith stood to the side and listened. 

“He has long hair, like girl-long, and it’s almost as white as Allura’s. When I first saw him I thought that he might be...a _malfetto_.” 

“Really?” I said with a grimace. “And can you not use that word?”

“Yeah, sorry.”  
“But...you really think so?” He nodded rapidly.

“The only time I’ve ever seen hair that white is on an old lady this one time, and Lotor was by no means old. It looked just like Allura’s, only straighter. There’s no way he could’ve been born with hair that color.”

“I still don’t think we can trust him.” Keith refused to meet either of our eyes, stubbornly looking away when we turned to him.

“Well,” Lance said, dejectedly. “It’s not like we have much of a choice anymore.” Eventually Keith walked off to talk to everyone else, leaving just me and Lance to sit on the lumpy mattress in my room.

“So...what’s up with you and Keith?” Lance looked up at the ceiling and sighed.

“I’ll tell you if you promise not to tell him any of it.” I put one hand on my heart and held the other one up.

“I solemnly swear that what happens in my room will stay in my room.”

“Or…” I laughed.

“Or let my remaining limbs be flayed by Emperor Zarkon himself.”

“Good enough.” We laughed. “It’s not like much actually happened between us. I mean, the whole jealousy thing with Allura is easy enough to get over. I’ve done it a bunch of times. Everything that actually happened was...well, when I was having that meltdown thing the other day. The other night, when I met the Prince...I was about to leave, and he just grabbed my face and kissed me. I was sort of in shock for the rest of the night. I mean…” Lance flopped down onto the bed. “I’m sure you know by now that Keith and I kissed not too long ago. We...hah, we kinda kissed a lot, but neither of us really said anything about our, well, relationship. So...you know, I was kinda confused. I mean it’s not like I’m his _boyfriend_ or anything, so does it matter if other guys kiss me?” I laid down next to him.

“You feel like it matters.”

“I do!” He flung his arms up into the air, dragging his hands down his face as he groaned. “I do feel like it matters. Boyfriend or not, Keith...he means a lot to me. I’m just worried that he...hates me now.” I let the silence draw on for a few seconds longer than necessary before speaking again.

“You’re guilty for the kiss.”

“I am.”

“But it’s not your fault.”

“That doesn’t make me any less guilty.” I rolled onto my side to face Lance.

“Hey, look at me.” He rolled over slowly. “Keith doesn’t hate you.”

“Are you sure?” Lance’s voice cracked on the last word. 

“I am _absolutely_ sure. There is _no way in hell_ that boy could ever hate you. He’s too in love with you for that to happen.”

“Really?”

“Really. Keith loves you with all of his heart, and you love him too. One stupid kiss from some stuck-up prince isn’t gonna change that, idiot.” I smiled and he smiled back. It felt good to see Lance smiling again.

“Okay.”

“You good?”

“I’m good.” He sat up with a groan. “I’m gonna go...do some stuff.” I nodded and laughed. He opened the door and stepped halfway out before stopping and turning around. “Hey, Pidge?”

“Yes, Lance?”

“Thanks.” And with that, the Rainmaker was gone.

* * *

The Galra Palace, November 23

The moon was out, bright and full. So bright that Princess Allura had no trouble in finding her way through the overgrown gardens of the Galra Palace. Thorns and brambles caught on her black cloak as she wove through the lush foliage that hadn’t been cared for in years. Zarkon was not an emperor of luxury, he was one of power. He likely couldn’t care less whether he lived in a palace or a broken-down shack as long as his subjects continued to fear him. The Princess had ditched her white cloak for one that would keep her from being recognized. When she showed up at the palace gates, the soldiers standing guard let her in without a word. If she had been wearing her Rose Society garb, that wouldn’t have happened. When she reached the arch under which her usual clandestine meetings took place, she sat down and waited, breathing in the thick air. If the moisture in the air was any indication, it was going to snow tomorrow.

“Welcome Princess.” The voice that came from behind her was sweet and carried with it the same accent as her own. The Princess tried her best to push away the memories that the voice brought forward. “I’m glad you enjoy the gardens, the roses always were my favorites.” She turned around to face a man wearing none of the same coverings as she. He had no reason to fear being recognized.

“Prince Lotor. You wouldn’t know a rose from a horned frog. If I remember correctly, I recall you saying that you loathed these gardens.” The grin that split across the Prince’s face would’ve made a child cry. “And even if I’m wrong,” The Princess continued, her voice firm. “I know you haven’t spent a day in these gardens, much preferring your time to be spent blathering at the feet of nobles.” His eyes sharpened.

“I do what is necessary to keep my life, your highness.”

“You mean what is necessary to keep your position, _General_.” The Prince’s smile dropped.

“Let’s get straight to the point. Our alliance is to be short-lived and-”

“Our _alliance_ is to last until the end of time. I do hope you understand that when the throne is successfully taken, _you_ will not be the one to inherit it.”

“Of course,” the smooth tone of the Prince’s voice was now gone, replaced by a rough growl. “If we-”

“ _When_ we capture the throne, I will be the successor. I mean, it’s only fair after what happened to my country, your _highness_.” She turned and walked a few steps away. “Now,” the Princess cooed. “Are you ready to pledge your undying loyalty to the Rose Society?” She cut a line through her palm, watching the crimson blood spill out before handing the dagger to the Prince. The same sinister grin cut across his face as he took the knife.

“It would be my pleasure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaa, let me know in the comments if your hands were shaking too or if i'm just an over-emotional weirdo. I'm like too empathetic and I just kinda absorb the emotions of whatever media I'm consuming, so hopefully y'all are feeling it too. Idk. We're getting close to our big finale though!


	9. Breaking II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 7-1=6. A palace coup must come with some complications.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very sorry for not updating on Monday, but I had an absolutely awful week. I might still try to get the next update up tomorrow, but no promises. Without further adieu: Kill your double.

**“To love is to be afraid. You are frightened, deathly terrified, that something will happen to those you love. Think of the possibilities. Does your heart clench with each thought? That, my friend, is love. And love enslaves us all, for you cannot have love without fear.”**   
**― Marie Lu, The Young Elites**

Takashi Shirogane, November 23

Allura had us covered by an illusion, one of her best ones yet. Snow had been falling lightly before we left, making Keith’s eye go wide, but by now, it had picked up to a near-blizzard. The fat flakes hit my in the eyes as I ran. Despite the precipitation, Allura’s illusion was perfect, every snowflake could be seen whirling through the wind as if we weren’t even there. Even though I couldn’t see or hear the others, I knew where each of them were. Allura and Coran were ahead of me, Keith and Lance behind me, and Pidge and Hunk taking up the rear. According to Allura, dozens of soldiers from the Blade of Marmora were already in place at the palace. Lotor was waiting inside, having thrown off the guards’ schedules so that there were less present than usual. Once we busted in through the gate, Keith and Lance would meet up with him while Hunk, Pidge, and the Blade of Marmora neutralized the soldiers and Allura and I made our way to the throne room. The plan wasn’t the best one ever, but it was the best that we could do, given the time constraints. I just hoped that it would all be over soon, and we could finally bring justice to the people. 

It wasn’t long before we reached the palace gates. The tall stone walls were just one of the obstacles standing between us and freedom. A large metal gate guarded by a dozen soldiers kept out any unwanted people, or well...it was supposed to. A few yards away, the Princess came into view, disguising herself as a common civilian, brown coat and black hair trailing behind her. She stepped up to the gate, touching the cold metal with a single gloved hand. The soldiers around her began to stir. 

“Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Civilians are prohibited within the palace walls.” Allura lowered her head, not turning her gaze away from the gate. She laughed quietly.

“That’s too bad…” her accent caused some of the guards to turn their heads in question. “Unfortunately, I am _no civilian_.” Allura slowly lowered the illusion, revealing the stark white cape branded with a rose as red as blood. As startled gasps and shouts began to ring out, she dropped the illusions covering the rest of us, and I took that as my cue. I moved the wind in the direction opposite it had been going, using it to lift us up to stand on top of the palace walls. Allura had said she’d wanted an entrance, I hoped that I fulfilled her wish. Seven figures stood atop the palace walls, each covered in a white cloak, gleaming silver masks on their faces and weapons in their hands. The blizzard had picked up, making it harder to see, but we were unmistakable up there. We were the Rose Society.

* * *

Lance McClain, November 23

We were fire and ice. Well...technically we were fire and _water_ , but that didn’t matter because as we stormed into the castle, there was nothing stopping us. We tore down everyone in our path, Keith swinging around his flaming sword and I taking down the longer-range targets with my bow and arrow. It was exhilarating and frightening at the same time. I had no time to think, just frantically trying to survive. 

“On your left!”

“Thanks!” Keith cut through a fully-armored Galra like he was made of butter. It was kind of amazing. We hadn’t completely mended the rift between us, but we were back to fighting as we always did. Lance and Keith, neck-and-neck. The devastating rivals that maybe had...something more. Having Keith back at my side gave me a bit of a confidence boost, and I decided to try something that I had only used on myself during practice. I was too afraid to try it on anyone else. As soon as I had a bit of an opening, I focused on one of the soldiers farther away as he grasped as his neck in horror. In only a few seconds, his jugular vein exploded violently, blood gushing out as the man gurgled in terror. Manipulating the water in blood wasn’t the easiest thing, but it was surely effective. I turned around to see Keith staring at me, eye wide.

“What?”

“Nothing, I’m just-” He turned around to run his sword through the arm of a soldier. “Super in love with you right now.” I laughed. Unfortunately the confession had little time to set in before we were back to fighting our way in. Once we actually made our way into the palace, it was hard not to gawk. As old as it was, the castle still gleamed with shining treasures and high ceilings. Even I hadn’t ever seen something so opulent. The marble floors shone with the blood of fallen soldiers. Any remorse I felt was being stored up in the back of my mind for later. None of that mattered right now, I told myself. The only thing that mattered was surviving. Wordlessly, I led Keith through the long hallways to the spot where we were supposed to meet Lotor. Something akin to a greenhouse stood at the southern end of the palace. In its day, it must’ve been beautiful, but now, it was little more than a dusty storage room. The room was curved, the ceiling and walls made of glass, probably made to see out into what used to be a nice garden. 

“Lotor? Lotor?! It’s the Rainmaker! Are you here?” I walked around the room, my footsteps echoing. There were a few doors on each sides of the room, but each of them looked untouched. 

“I don’t like this, something seems off.” Keith walked around carefully, as if disturbing the thick layer of dust was going to set off some unseen threat.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure he’s here somewhere. You go on, I’ll wait here.” He looked over at me, slipping his silver mask off to reveal his worry-ridden face.

“I’m not leaving you here alone. I mean, I don’t doubt that you can handle yourself, but I can’t, I mean I-”

“I get it.” I took off my mask too, smiling at him. He relaxed a little bit, carding his hand through his hair. 

“I’ll...wait outside, okay? Be careful.” I nodded as he opened the squeaky wooden door and stepped out. The greenhouse-slash-observatory thing was actually really nice. Although I could still hear the muffled sounds of fighting outside, it gave me a brief moment of peace. The snow was piling up heavily on the panes of glass and I wondered briefly if they might collapse. I stalked around the cold room, trailing my fingers across long-forgotten shelves full of memories. I guess Zarkon didn’t have much of a use for an observatory when he was so busy, like, taking away people’s rights.

“Hello, Rainmaker.” My head whipped around to face the man standing in the center of the room. The Prince had a smile on his face as usual, but this time, something seemed...off. I really should’ve listened to Keith.

“Lotor! There you are, you almost gave me a heart attack!” I walked closer to him as he laughed, a low rough chuckle.

“Forgive me for not being here on time, but I had some...urgent matters to attend to. A palace coup isn’t exactly the easiest operation, after all.” It was my first time seeing him in full armor, and it made my face heat up a bit. I quickly reprimanded myself. Keith was right outside! 

“That’s okay, don’t worry about it. Now, hurry. We have to meet up with Allura in the throne room.” I grabbed his forearm, attempting to pull him along with me, but he simply laughed and took hold of my hand. 

“I’m afraid I can’t, my dear Rainmaker.” I paused. 

“What? Why not?” Lotor chuckled lowly once again, as if I was the dumbest person in the world. 

“I must prepare, of course.” He yanked me forward and I let out a yelp of surprise as his other hand came around my waist, pressing me flush up against his chest. “After all…” with one finger, he tilted my chin up so I was looking directly into his eyes. “One doesn’t secede the throne every day, now.” Even in the dim light, the Prince’s teeth gleamed like fangs.

“What...what are you talking about?” My heartbeat was racing. Allura was supposed to take the throne, not Lotor.

“It’s actually pretty simple in its essence. I’ll just wait for Allura to kill my father, then sweep in and kill _her_.” The Prince grinned and I could finally see what was going on. He lifted me a few inches off the floor, swinging me around softly as if we were dancing in a ballroom. “Have you put together the pieces yet, Rainmaker?” He slipped my mask off and it clattered to the floor. “You’re being sold out, deceived, tricked, _betrayed_.” 

“You...you were lying to me this whole time?!” I tried to push away from the man, but he only held me closer. 

“Oh, _Lance_ , you make it sound so awful. I always serve my lies with a grain of truth. I’ve always hated my father, and he’s always hated his son. His white-haired, _malfetto_ , Elite son.” I could feel my eyes widen. _No._ “Oh, yes. I am a Young Elite as well, Rainmaker. And, let me tell you, being able to read the thoughts of others _does_ come in handy.” Lotor ran his hands down my sides, finding all the hidden knives and taking them for himself. The custom-made bow and arrows? _Snap._ Broken in two, nothing more than firewood now. He kicked out my knees, letting me fall to the floor, smile gone. “Goodbye, _Lance_.”

“You…” I stuttered, my voice broken and frail. I felt empty. Shattered. The air was _so_ much colder than it had been before. “You won’t get away with this.” The weak threat made him turn around. 

“Oh, _Lance_...” Prince Lotor knelt down on one knee. Reaching out a hand, he grabbed the back of my neck, pulling me forward and kissing me roughly. It was nothing like the first one we had shared. This one was filled with hunger and ferocity and _hatred_. His words were a whisper- no- a breath against my lips. “ _I already have_.”

* * *

Hunk Garrett, November 23

The crowd of Galra soldiers seemed endless. No matter how many I cut down, there always just seemed to be more. It was becoming harder to tell who was loyal to Zarkon and who wasn’t. The Blade of Marmora all wore masks, but a lot of them seemed to be losing them during the fight. One of the good things about these cloaks was that no one was mistaking me for someone I wasn’t, so I didn’t have to worry about any friendly fire coming to me. What I _did_ have to worry about was mistaking a palace traitor for a loyalist. Unfortunately, this seemed to happen often.

“Hey, stop!” One of the men shouted at me after I knocked away his sword. “I’m on your side!” I tilted my head in confusion. Here was a man dressed in full Galra armor telling me that he was on _my_ side. I ignored him, ready to attack before one of the Marmora soldiers stopped me. “I’m Thayce. I can help you. Come here.” I squinted at him questioningly before deciding this was no time for hesitation. I waved Pidge, Allura and Shiro over to where Thayce had run off to. He sprinted down a hallway, cutting down men with the same sword that members of the Blade carried. Thayce found what he needed- a painting, apparently- and shoved it to the side, revealing a hole in the wall. “Take this passage,” he said calmly. “It’ll let you out right outside of the throne room. Shiro and Allura crawled through quickly, but I lagged behind. 

“Thayce,” Pidge called, panting. “You’ve worked in the castle, right?” He nodded at her. Oh no. She was going to do something dangerous, I could feel it. I was ready to get away from all of the action, and _of course_ there had to be something stopping us. “Do you know where Matt and Samuel Holt are?” He looked at her carefully.

“Prisoners?”

“Yes.” Thayce seemed to be in deep thought. 

“If they were prisoners, they’d be down in the east wing. You can get there quickly if you hurry.” He pointed in the direction opposite of Shiro and Allura.

“Thank you!” She ran off all by herself, going far, far away from where we were supposed to be.

“Pidge, what are you doing!?” I tried to run after her, but Thayce stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. 

“Don’t worry,” his words only made me worry even more. “I have a feeling she can handle herself.”

* * *

Takashi Shirogane, November 23

The air inside of the palace was humid. At least, it felt that way. Allura and I ran side by side, rushing through hallways filled with angry soldiers. The Blade of Marmora had done a pretty good job keeping the guards back, but there were just too many of them. My sword was beginning to grow heavy and I thanked Hunk over and over in my mind. If he hadn’t designed this sword for me, it would’ve been _so_ much worse. Allura threw open the large double doors to what I assumed was the throne room, but when I stepped through, it was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Before me was an endless, empty space, filled only with twinkling stars. Allura was gone and so were the doors. I spun around frantically, looking for a way out. Suddenly, the air was dry, so dry. I couldn’t hear the wind whipping around me, but I could feel it. My cloak waved frantically and my hood flew off of my face. It was becoming harder and harder to stand my ground, the force of the air pushing me around. From behind me, I heard a soft cackle, and quickly turned around to see who it had come from. There was no one there. I held a hand over my eyes, trying to see through the clouds that had formed.“Welcome back, Champion.” At the sound of the cruel voice, it all came back to me

_I had been out on a mission to scout the unexplored area north of Arezey with a nice man I had met there. He had a son and a daughter whom he loved unconditionally. Both had been hit hit by the fever, yet both survived. The boy was the older of the two, named Matt. Katie was his younger sister. When we set off on our mission, I remember him talking about how his younger sister wanted to come along, but they decided she wasn’t ready. I remember hoping that I would someday meet the girl. Matt quickly became my best friend. Being similar in age, we found it easy to confide in each other during our long expedition._

_A few weeks in, we had encountered another group out in the frozen wastelands. I commented that I didn’t know there were any native people living out there. The group explained that they weren’t natives. Samuel Holt, Matt Holt, and myself became the first group to be captured by the Galra in their hunt for_ malfettos _. We were taken south, to the Galra capitol city. I remember being told that we were going to be fine. I remember believing it. Samuel, Matt, and I were all put in separate cells initially, and then moved into a single one as more and more prisoners continued to be taken in. Matt always told me that everything would be okay. He said it over and over and over again. I still didn’t know whether he said it to convince me or to convince himself._

_One day, we were suddenly taken out of our usual routine. (Two meals a day. Nothing else). A soldier came and unlocked our cell door, shouting at us to get out. Matt thought it meant freedom. I thought it meant we were in for a worser fate. Unfortunately, I was the one proven right. We were lined up single-file next to the other prisoners, all with various markings across their skin or hair. I tried to see what was going on from my place in the line, and when I did, I was horrified. Prisoner after prisoner was led out of the line and into what seemed to be some sort of stadium. A beast of man stood inside, and I was frozen with terror as I watched him rip apart person after person, some old and some young, none of them able to fight him off. I saw Samuel get taken away with the rest of the weaker prisoners. The others continued to die. It wasn’t long before Matt was at the front of the line._

_”I’m not gonna make it, Shiro. I’m going to die here and then I’ll never see my family again!” Matt whispered, head in his hands. When a soldier gestured at him to go into the arena, I knew I couldn’t just let him go in there. Without thinking, I yelled and rushed forward, grabbing the man’s sword and using it to slash Matt in the leg. He cried out and I shoved him to the ground._

_”This is my fight!” He looked up at me in horror and I leaned down, whispering so only he could hear. “Take care of your father.” The men pried me off of him, throwing me into the fight. The shouts and screams of the crowd rang in my ears. I watched as the gladiator began to swing at me. It all went by so fast, it was hard to remember how I had gotten out of the fight alive. I don’t know how I did it, but I killed the man, and earned the name "Champion". From then on, I was kept in a cleaner cell, waking up every day to fight man after man, all to appease the blood-thirsty crowds. Never again did I see Matt or Samuel._

_After what must have been years, my hair had gone partially white, and my body had become nothing but muscle. They fed me well. After all, who wanted to see a skinny guy fight a bunch of monsters? I had scars all over my body, and one new one across the bridge of my nose. I had lost track of how many people I’d killed. I tried not to think of how many it was. It was deep into the night when a soldier came into my room, commanding me to drink a strange liquid he had brought. I feel asleep, and woke the next day strapped to a table. Similar liquid had been shoved down my throat many times after, and each time, I woke up with new scars I was unable to explain. The severity of my wounds grew greater and greater until I awoke one day without my right arm. I felt a sense of loss, but suddenly, it was gone. I no longer could feel the pain, or much else for that matter. I couldn’t remember my name, or where I had come from. It wasn’t much of a concern, though. I wasn’t angry. I wasn’t anything._

_The same day I noticed my missing arm, a Galra soldier had come into my room and killed all of the men watching me. It was the first time in a long while that I felt anything. And right then, it was urgency. The man rushed me out of the room, scowl on his face as he politely answered all of my questions. What was my name? Takashi Shirogane. Where was I from? I had been captured up north. Where did my arm go? One of the ‘druids’ had removed it. Why couldn’t I remember anything? The druids had been giving me a serum that inhibited my memory. Who was he? Ulaz. Why was he helping me? He was part of ‘The Blade’, ergo it was his job. He managed to sneak me out of the city alive, but one foot in the grave. I walked north, hoping to find someone who would help me, but all I got were a lot of strange looks from passerby. I had been out for a week when Keith found me dying in the desert._

The unseen voice cackled again and I began slowly turning in circles. “Where are you!?” Suddenly, a hand was at my throat. In all honesty, I was pretty tired of almost dying. But I couldn’t breathe, and that was taking the higher priority. 

“Do you not remember me, _Champion_? I put all that hard work into your arm there, and you still don’t remember who I am?” The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. The lack of oxygen flow to my brain certainly wasn’t helping, either. “Well, let me give you a little hint.” The clouds around me faded away and I came face to face with the woman who haunted my nightmares. Haggar stood in front of me, yellow eyes gleaming as she laughed. “What have you become, my _Champion_? You’re not even able to fight _me_ off! Letting you out there, you’ve become so _weak_. Don’t forget who it was who gave you all of this. I can take it away too.” More clouds had shifted to reveal some sort of window to the outside world, showing Allura struggling to fight off the guards.

“A-Allura!” I choked out, making the witch laugh.

“All of this has made you soft. Protecting the Princess, huh? How _noble_ of you, Shiro. But how are you supposed to protect her when you can’t even protect yourself?” The image of the woman in front of me began to morph and I saw myself standing there. I was lifted off of my feet as the hand around my throat tightened. The laugh I heard was no longer Haggar’s, it was mine. 

“Look at you,” My double said, eyes yellow as the Galra’s. “Pathetic. You’ll never live up to me, _Windwalker_. You’ll die here, just like all your friends. I struggled in his- my grasp. My legs kicked out in front of me, desperately, trying to get free. “You’ll _never_ be like me.”

“No,” I gasped. “No, I won’t ever be like you, because there’s something I know that you don’t.” My clone’s expression shifted. “I know that...every illusion...has its faults!” I spun my legs over the man’s arms, dragging myself to the floor and wrenching myself free from his grasp. I ran to where my fallen sword lay, picking it up and watching as a piece of the marble floor was revealed. Without hesitation, I raised my sword up over my head, smashing it down into the crack and watching the illusion shatter away before my eyes.

“No!” Haggar shouted. The room came back into view, bloodshed everywhere as the palace guards fought off the Princess. Haggar snarled. “I may not be able to kill _you_ Takashi, but I can certainly kill your friend!” My head whipped around, watching as Allura killed the last soldier in the room, failing to notice the hazy entity behind her. 

“Allura!” She turned around to look at me as I ran toward her desperately. Not a second too soon, I stood between her and the sword that fell, taking the blow myself. It felt as if a fire had suddenly been lit in my abdomen as the sword cut into me, tearing through my flesh. 

“Shiro!” I fell to the floor, dropping Hunk’s sword. I turned my head to see Haggar screaming as Allura cast an illusion of pain over her. Knowing better than to stick around, she vanished from the room as Allura picked up my head. “Shiro...oh, Shiro, stay with me. Please stay with me.” I coughed up blood, which probably didn’t comfort her at all. “Let’s get out of here.” She picked me up, and the last thing I saw was her tear-streaked face as she pulled off her mask.

* * *

Keith Kogane, November 23

I fucking knew that something was off! When we got into the observatory and it was empty, I knew something was wrong. There was no reason for Lotor to be late. He lived inside the castle, for the gods’ sake! I put my faith into Lance, but he had always been a much more trusting person than I was. As soon as soldiers began to approach me, cornering me in the middle of the hallway, I knew I was right. I pulled out the sword Hunk had made for me, igniting it quickly. I never should’ve trusted that good for nothing Prince. The soldiers began to rush at me, but their weapons were no use for mine. I elbowed one in the face before spinning around to stab another in the throat. There seemed to be no end to the men coming down the hallway, but the gruesome fight wasn’t what had my attention. I needed to get to Lance. As soon as I cut down what seemed to be the last soldier, I threw open the doors to the observatory. Inside, Lance sat on his knees in the middle of the room, head in his hands. 

“Lance!” He looked up at me, eyes brimming with tears. He stood up slowly.

“Keith! Keith, behind you, oh gods!” He ran towards me and I felt a sharp pain shoot up my back, suddenly I was unable to move. I coughed, trying to suck in a breath but only managing to spit up some blood. Oh. I looked down at myself, seeing the tip of the silver blade that had been plunged through my chest. Oh. The sword was yanked out harshly, and I fell.

* * *

Katie Holt, November 23

There was nothing that could get between me and my family. By the time I had reached the east wing, I had lost track of how many soldiers I’d killed. There was a strange lack of guards in this part of the palace, but I supposed the situation we had caused called for most of the people in the castle to be on the front lines. I ran and ran, my heart pounding. The east wing was a lot bigger than I had imagined. As I approached what appeared to be the prisoner’s area, I slowed to a stop. Around the corner, I could hear the faint rustling and footsteps of the lone guard still remaining. I took a deep breath in and rushed the man, hooking my arm around his torso and holding my dagger to his throat. 

“If you value your life, you’re going to tell me where Matt and Samuel Holt are.” The guard let out a choked sound. “Now,” I ordered. He raised his hands in surrender. 

“Okay, okay. Let me just…” he reached for the table next to him and I tightened my grip. “Look, I don’t have the list memorized.” I raised an eyebrow at him, but the expression was lost through my mask. 

“Fine, but keep your hands where I can see them.” I gave him a little room to move and he grabbed a stack of paper, rustling through it. 

“Holt, Matt and Holt, Samuel are in cell 342.” I let go of the man, but hit a pressure point in his neck so that he was out cold. I quickly figured out that the cells were arranged in blocks of hundreds, so I needed to get to the three hundreds immediately. As soon as I turned down the 300 hall, the hope and adrenaline I had been relying on quickly began to run out. There wasn’t a single prisoner in any of the cells, they were all empty. _No,_ I thought. _This isn’t happening._ I kept on running and running, the sound of my heavy footsteps echoing back at me mockingly. _339, 340, 341, 342…_ I screeched to a halt, shaking my head slowly. It was empty, just like all of the other cells. _No, no, no, no, no!_ I sank to my knees, fists clenched. 

“No, no, no! This wasn’t supposed to happen! None of it. You were supposed to be here!” My breath hitched and I fought the urge to cry. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much of a will to fight left in me, and tears began to drip down my cheeks, falling onto the cold stone floors.

* * *

Lance McClain, November 23

“Keith, Keith, Keith, Keith…” I sobbed uselessly, holding the fallen boy in my arms. 

“Tch. You two are more trouble than you’re worth.” The Prince stalked off, heels clicking as he left the room. I could see the pain written across Keith’s face as he struggled to stay awake. “Stay with me, Keith. Please, please, stay with me. You’re gonna be okay, it’s okay.” He cracked a little smile at me, and all I could do was sob even harder. Keith ran his fingers through my hair and held onto my hand for dear life.

“D-Don’t cry, Lance. I’ll be...I’ll…” Tears ran down my cheeks, but I couldn’t feel them. I leaned down, pressing my lips to Keith’s forehead as my shoulders heaved. 

“No, no, no, no, no...Please, please, don’t go. I can’t...I can’t…” Keith sucked in a raggedy breath. 

“Lance.” I looked down at the boy laying there, my partner, my best friend, my lover. “Lance...I love you.”

“I love you too, Keith. I love you so much, please don’t...please don’t leave me, Keith!” I held him tight, my body trembling. When his breath slowed to a stop and I couldn’t hear his heartbeat anymore, I was broken. Just like that, Keith was gone.

* * *

Hunk Garrett, November 23

I hadn’t yet joined Allura and Shiro, deciding to help the Blade of Marmora take out the palace guards. Unfortunately, the Blade hadn’t been doing too well. They had come in here with more soldiers than I could easily count, only to be reduced to about half a dozen. Despite this, the Galra were still coming strong. For every Marmora soldier that fell, I had to take on another dozen men. It was becoming too much to handle as the ones I had previously knocked down got back up onto their feet. I was beginning to lose hope when a familiar white-cloaked figure made his way over to me.

“Hunk,” Coran fought off a nearby guard. “We have to find the others and get out of here. Princess’s orders.” I nodded and we rushed off down a corridor, leaving the chaos behind us. The entire east wing seemed to be deserted, save for a few knocked-out soldiers. Pidge had really done a number on the place. We eventually came to fork in the hallways, one path diverging off into at least ten different directions.

“Pidge,” I shouted. “Pidge are you in here?” The only response I got was the quiet sound of breathing. “I think she’s down here.” I ran down the hall marked ‘300’ and sure enough, there she was. She looked so much smaller than usual, down on her knees in the middle of the hallway. “Pidge?” She lifted her head, but didn’t take her eyes off of the cell in front of her.

“They’re not here, Hunk...they’re gone.”

“Who’s gone?”

“My...my dad. And my brother. They...they were supposed to be here but they’re gone.” Pidge stood up silently, rubbing the heel of her hand across her eyes. “They’re probably dead now. I was such an idiot...to think that they’d still be alive.”

“Pidge…” Coran stepped forward, placing his hands on her shoulders and slipping off his mask. “All of the prisoners in the castle were moved into work camps outside of the city walls. Your brother and father are probably still alive. That’s why our mission is so important. We have to be strong and get out of here so that we can save your family and all of the other prisoners. Now come with us, you won’t get to see your brother and father again if you’re dead.” Pidge looked at him, some weak semblance of hope rising within her. She nodded.

“Okay. Let’s go.” She pulled out a dagger and turned to follow Coran, putting her silver mask back on. We ran off in the direction of the observatory, where Lance and Keith were meeting the Prince. I couldn’t wait to get out of that god-awful place. My muscles ached and all the injuries I had racked up were finally starting to take their toll. I squinted to see in the dim light, making sure we had the right place. It was quiet as a mouse and the bodies of fallen Galra littered the ground outside the doors.

“Are they still here?” I whispered. Coran seemed unsure, hand pausing as he went to open the door. He tentatively turned the knob and pushed the door open. No amount of preparation could’ve ever made me ready for what I saw in that room. Lance, sobbing quietly, hunched over an unmoving Keith. I froze the second I stepped inside. 

“Lance,” Coran’s voice was soft and shaky. “Keith?” Lance stopped sobbing, breathing in deeply as tears continued to fall from his eyes. 

“Coran. Keith, he’s...he’s…” Even from across the room, I could see the boy shaking. Pidge let out a choked sob, hand over her mouth. 

“No,” Pidge’s whisper spoke for everyone. Lance nodded, eyes clenched shut as to not see the way his eye looked up lifelessly or the way his white cloak had been stained red with his own blood. The smell of death was sharp and metallic in the air. Without my noticing it, tears had begun to run down my face as well. The following moments passed by in a blur. Coran gently peeling Lance away from Keith. The four of us running through the gardens and climbing over the palace walls. The hopeless feeling settling deep within each of us. Because Keith was dead, and there was nothing anyone of us could do about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to make Keith's death similar to Kala's in the book Endgame by James Frey, but I did not have the heart to set our boy on fire. Yell at me in the comments, and make sure to subscribe for the next chapter!


	10. Fallout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The old Keith can't come to the phone right now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I never update, its cause i hate myslef

**"This is not a soldier's emotion. This is not a monster's emotion. This is a human's emotion, and I am not familiar with being human."**  
**-Arcadia Mahler, The Neighbors**

The Catacombs, November 24

Although the screams had long since faded from their ears, the ghosts of the battle still left them feeling hollow. Their hasty retreat from the palace left everyone breathless and fearful. What were they supposed to do now? The silence was suffocating deep underneath the city. No one dared to say a word. Shiro was in critical condition, laying across a mattress that had been pulled out into the dining hall. A deep gash ran across his chest. Coran sped around the halls, searching for medical supplies that were nearly non-existent. It was impossible to say whether Shiro would wake up. The possibility of death was now fresh on everyone's mind.

Lance wandered around in a daze, as if he couldn't remember who he was. No one was able to offer him comfort. They all seemed to want to grieve alone. Eventually, the group settled into their individual rooms, none offering a word. One by one they came out, sitting silently by Shiro's bedside. Allura, however, never left. She had pulled up a chair next to the fallen man, watching him with tired eyes. The Princess's eyebrows creased with silent worry. She, unlike the rest of the team, had refused to shed a single tear once back in the catacombs. Crying in the palace had been short-lived for Allura, as she knew that it was useless. And, after all, if she was to fall apart, what was going to keep the rest of the team whole? They had already become so fractured and distant, if she were to lose her strength, all hope would be lost for the Rose Society.

* * *

The Galra Palace, November 24

The Prince stalked around the castle angrily. He knew that he shouldn't have put so much trust into those worthless _malfettos_. They called themselves Elites, and yet they gave up so quickly. The air in the palace had become tense ever since the attack. They were by no means done with the cleanup, and Lotor knew his father was angry. The Prince's footsteps echoed off of the polished marble. Without the usual rotation of guards, the castle seemed desolate, almost abandoned. The snow had finally stopped falling, leaving black ice along the streets of the city. 

Lotor stopped outside of the doors to the throne room. His father and Haggar were in there, no doubt discussing their next move. An attack such as this could not go unpunished. The _malfetto_ support throughout the kingdom had been rising exponentially. What was to stop another attack from coming? The Prince hadn't yet heard of any more Elite groups, but there was no question that they were out there. The rebellion needed to be crushed before it could grow any stronger. Lotor knew about his father's worsening condition, but was impatient for him to finally kick the bucket. This little coup was supposed to be his chance to finally take what was rightfully his. Zarkon had been on the throne for far too long. It was time for a new ruler. 

"Your highness, the Emperor requests your presence." A guard had come through the doors, holding them open as an invitation for the Prince. Lotor sighed and stepped inside. The few remaining guards had been placed in the throne room to protect the Emperor, of course. The rest of the palace servants were on their own.

"Yes, _Emperor_?" Lotor knew that his father had no good news for him. After all, his powers had few exceptions. Mind reading did come in handy quite often.

"Lotor, I trust you know about the shape in which the Palace is currently in. Things are no longer what they were, and we can no longer sit idly by while these uprisings continue to grow. I've heard about your...involvement with the Rose Society." Lotor cringed inwardly. This wasn't going to be good. "I must say, your plan was a stroke of genius. Infiltrating the enemy's ranks by making a false alliance? I would expect no less from a son of mine." Of course, Lotor was only considered to be Zarkon's son when it was convenient for the Emperor. 

"Thank you, father."

"And that's why I trust you know the location of the Rose Society's headquarters." The Prince visibly stiffened. The Emperor was pulling one over him. The praise was all a setup. Zarkon knew that it wasn't his plan to help out the Empire. 

"Of course." His voice shook, and his father lifted his chin up. He knew he had already won.

"Good, then. You will send out an attack as soon as physically possible. But before you go, Haggar has something that she would like to show you." The Prince inhaled sharply. "Follow me," the Emperor stood up from his throne, walking out of the room. Haggar and the Prince followed as he silently strode down the empty halls. Lotor had no idea what was going to happen, but he was sure it wasn't going to be good. His father quickly led them to the observatory, pushing open the doors hastily. 

"During the attack, you were in this room with the Rainmaker and the Reaper, correct?" Lotor nodded. "According to reports, the Reaper died by your sword. Well done. It's a shame that you couldn't kill the Rainmaker as well." The Prince said nothing. He had let the Rainmaker get away on purpose. It was strange how, even though the thousands of lives he had taken, he had still managed to find a soft spot for one of the very men threatening his empire. "Show me where he died." The Prince looked around the room. They had been relatively close to the doors when it had happened. There was a single bloodstain where the Reaper had lain.

"Here," Lotor said, tapping the spot with his foot.

"And you're sure this is the _exact_ place?" Haggar's voice was as scratchy and unpleasant as ever. 

"I'm sure."

"Then so be it." Zarkon walked to the bloodstain, kneeling beside it. "You may not know this, but Haggar possesses a very powerful sort of magic. Though she may not be an Elite, she is still very valuable to us. As you may have seen, the Reaper, Keith Kogane, is one of the greatest fighters to have graced this world. It is a pity he was a _malfetto_ as well. But right now, that is of no concern. At a time when this Empire is in need, we must put aside certain differences."

"What are you saying?" The Prince stepped back as Haggar knelt across from Zarkon. She silently pulled out a dagger, handing it to the Emperor. 

"What I 'm saying is that it's a waste for such a valuable soldier to die so pointlessly. What I'm saying is that there is a way we can have him on _our_ side." 

"But he's dead!"

"Don't question me, boy! You do not know the extent of Haggar's powers. You also do not know about the fact that Keith Kogane had Galra blood running through his veins." The Prince froze, eyes wide. "He is the son of the legendary Vega Kogane, one of the best Galran gladiators ever. She too was a traitor against the Empire, and was sentenced to death. Keith and his father both contracted the fever, leaving him to fend for himself. If the Reaper was on our side, he would be unstoppable. And for a being with Galra blood, death is not an obstacle." The Emperor took off his helmet, displaying the ragged, scarred face that so few had seen. He cut off a lock of his hair and placed it onto the bloodstained ground. Next, the dagger came across his palm, slicing a shallow cut across it, and letting the blood drip onto the hair beneath it.

"Stand back," Haggar commanded. Zarkon stood up, stepping away from the scene in front of him. The witch placed her hand onto the stone, closing her eyes. Before long, a burning blue light began to emit from beneath her palm. The bloodstains began to glow along with it, and Haggar clenched her teeth. The blue quickly turned to red, burning and swirling until she stepped away. The floor seemed to melt away beneath the glow, turning to molten lava. Flames burst from the walls, touching everything, yet burning nothing. A silhouette slowly rose from the fiery pit, and its features slowly began to fill out. Right before their eyes, the Reaper had come back to life. The flames beneath his feet cooled and he stepped towards the Emperor.

"My powers allow for anyone of Galra descent to be resurrected, but at a price. The person in question must have their life tethered to someone who is willing to give up a piece of their soul. From then on, the person can control the other's every will." Keith got down on one knee, his head lowered. 

"I am forever in your service, Emperor." When he stood back up, Lotor gasped at the sight of him. He retained the exact same appearance as he had before he died. Even down to the blood-stained white cloak and the hole in his chest. But his eye, his eye was no longer the same. The whites of Keith's eye had gone black, and the iris glowed a fiery red. Even the Prince, who had known Keith for a matter of days, could tell that Haggar had been lying. This was not Keith, but a shell of his former self. The real Keith was gone forever, and nothing could change that.

* * *

Katie Holt, November 26

Shiro looked tired even when he was asleep. His eyebrows still managed to crease and he almost seemed to be frowning. It almost made me smile. I sat on his right and Allura sat on his left, refusing to let go of his hand. I was sort of glad, actually. I was afraid of how cold it might feel if I did hold his hand. Coran stood a few yards away, watching us carefully and organizing the medical supplies he had found. None of us came back without injury, of course. Shiro just happened to be worse off. No one had really said much. Coran and Allura had filled each other in on what had happened. That was pretty much it. We were all in a perpetual state of shock. Keith's death was something none of us had expected. 

Lance had shut himself in his room, doing who-knows-what. I had half a mind to go in there and try to comfort him, but I wasn't sure how much I could do. I wasn't in very good shape myself. I was doing my best just trying not to cry at any given moment. Seeing Shiro here looking so...empty, it was agonizing. I tried not to think of Keith at all. If I did, I don't think I could have managed to put myself back together again. In the back of my mind, I registered my stomach growling but elected to ignore it. I'd be fine.

Allura was looking at me, I could feel it. Her face had shown little emotion lately. She was probably using the same ignore-your-feelings strategy that I was. I looked back at her, but she didn't turn her gaze away. My lips quirked up slightly, trying to show some sympathy. I stood up, walking around the bed and wrapping my arms around her. Allura said nothing, just placing a hand on my arm and closing her eyes, breathing slowly. The Princess was warm and I found myself closing my eyes too, finally letting my muscles relax. It was one of those moments that resonates, seeming to last longer than it actually did. I felt safe there, like I could just stay forever. But good things never last.

Lance walked into the room, commanding our attention without a word. His bare feet padded quietly over to Coran, who gave him a hug that could cure the blood fever. He stood there, arms at his sides, head against Coran's shoulder. I had a feeling that everyone in the catacombs right then could've desperately used a hug. I wondered where Hunk had gone, he probably gave good hugs. As if he could hear my thoughts, Hunk stepped into the room, carrying a large bag.

"Um," he said, breaking the long-hanging silence. "I have some stuff for you guys." Lance turned around and I stepped back from my hug. The boy reached into the bag, pulling out a short metal rod and handing it to Allura. "This, uh, it's a staff. It kinda telescopes, you see?" He pulled on both ends of the rod, extending it so that it was nearly as tall as him. "It's sharpened on both ends so you can like, fight or whatever." 

Allura stared at the weapon in her hand, looking back up at Hunk and nodding silently in thanks. Hunk walked over to Coran and pulled two more things from the bag- hatchets. "These are just regular hatchets, but I saw them a while back and they um, reminded me of you." The metal on each of the hatchets had black streaks running through it. Just like Coran's marking. He took the weapons gratefully, setting them down gently before enveloping Hunk in a short-lived hug. He pulled away, giving the bag to Lance. "I uh, figured since....you know. The rest of that is yours." Lance eyed the bag suspiciously before gingerly reaching a hand in and pulling out a bow and arrows. They were identical to the ones he had before and I wondered what had happened to the last set. Lance stared at the bow, horror in his eyes. 

"Thanks, Hunk." His voice was softer than I'd ever heard it. After he spoke, the silence was back, everyone looking at their own two feet of floor. Someone coughed, and everyone recognized it immediately. _Shiro_. All eyes in the room flicked over to the man who casually began hacking up a lung. We all practically ran to his side until Coran told us to step back. He came forward with a flask of water, urging the man to drink it and sitting him up carefully.

"Shiro....Shiro, drink this. Here, it's okay. There we go." After Shiro down an acceptable amount of water, Allura replaced Coran at her side. 

"Shiro, thank gods you're okay! Don't you ever do that to me again, you hear? You scared the life out of me! I thought...I thought you were dead." He looked at her through squinted eyes and coughed.

"W-Where am I?"

"You-You're here with me. Allura, remember? We're in the catacombs, we made it out of the palace." He nodded absently. 

"Allura, Coran, Pidge, Hunk, Lance. Okay." Shiro pushed himself up with his hand and tried to stand up, only to have Coran sit him back down. "Wait," he coughed. "Where-Where's Keith?" Everyone froze. I looked at Lance, eyes blown wide. "Is Keith here?" I could feel my face heating up and I fought back tears. _No, no, no. Not now. Not when Shiro just woke up._

"Shiro, sit down." Coran put a hand on his shoulder. "Shiro...Keith...he didn't make it. We weren't able to save him, I'm sorry." I couldn't resist it anymore. I let out a choked sob, a tear running down my face. _No, no, no, stop that._ The room held its breath, waiting for Shiro's reaction. He put a hand to his head, staring at the floor. 

"No." Shiro stood up, wiping his eyes even though they seemed to be free of tears. "No, no, no. This shouldn't have happened. It should've been me." 

"Shut your mouth, Takashi!" Allura shouted at him, breaking him out of his trance. "It absolutely should _not_ have been you. I drag your ass back here, praying that you'll live and the first thing you say is that you should've died?!" 

"I-I'm...I'm sorry."

"Damn right you are!" I stared at the Princess with wide eyes. I had never seen her like this before.

"I have something to tell you, Katie." Shiro was looking straight at me. 

"H-How do you know my name?" He walked over to me.

"I know your name because I was on the Kerberos mission." What. _What?!_ "I couldn't remember anything from the past three years...until now. When I was in that fight with Haggar, she put some spell on me. It put me in a trance, but it also made me remember what had happened. Your dad, Matt, and I were all on a mission to explore the forgotten Kerberos land up north. The Galra intercepted us and we were taken as prisoners. I was forced to fight as a gladiator, but your family might still be alive." I was crying again, but this time, I knew it was pointless to resist it. I fell into Shiro, hugging him as gently as I could.

"Thank you, thank you, Shiro."

"While we're at it," Lance drawled sarcastically. "Why don't we tell whatever _other_ secrets we've been holding back?" I was about to argue in Shiro's defense and say that he couldn't help his memory loss, but Coran spoke before I could.

"I-I'm sorry I kept this from you all, but I've only known about it since yesterday." Coran looked down at his feet. "The Emperor has declared that all _malfettos_ within custody are to be executed." My hands clenched around Shiro's arm and I felt him wince. 

" _What!?_ " I was yelling now, but I couldn't help myself. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"You all seemed so distant and sad I didn't...didn't want to make it any worse. I was afraid of what you might do."

"Oh, what? I try to find my long-lost family that are probably being tortured by the Galra _as we speak_ and suddenly, all I am is an impulsive, selfish bastard?"

"That's not what I meant."

"It might not have been, but admit it. You thought I was going to run off again!"

"Well," Hunk interjected. "You already did run off so..."

"Stay out of this!"

"Hey!" Lance shouted, raising his voice for the first time since we got back. "Can we not argue about this? We have much more important things to deal with. Innocent people are out there _dying_ and we're not doing a single thing about it." 

"How can we?" I stepped forward. "We're finished, Lance. The Blade of Marmora is gone, Lotor was a traitor, Shiro is about five feet in the grave, and Keith is dead!" He inhaled sharply, closing his eyes and clenching his fists. 

"You're right, _Katie_ , Keith is dead. Keith is gone, but if we just give up now, he died for _nothing_. We _have_ to do something! Your family might still be alive, but they won't be alive for long if we just sit around! We have to fight-" An explosion rang out from down the hall, shaking loose dust and blinding us all. 

"What was that?!" 

"The Galra...they found us."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woop, woop, short chapter. I'll finish it up today because if I don't, lord knows how long it'll take for me to post again.


	11. Fallout II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The apex

**“So tell me...you don’t have a family. Maybe you never did...but you do now. How far are you willing to go? To save them? To avenge them? Would you start a war for them? What would you do if they died? Would you be angry enough to fight for the rest of your life?”**  
**-Arcadia Mahler, The Neighbors**

Lance McClain, November 26

My bare feet slapped against the cobblestone as we ran through the streets of the catacombs. Each step made the skin of my soles burn with pain, but none of that really mattered. What really mattered was getting away. I had no idea how the Galra had found our hideout. I didn’t reveal the location to Lotor even once, and I had even made sure that no one followed me as I went home. I ran for dear life, feeling as though this were all my fault somehow. Coran took the lead, weaving through the dark passages in an attempt to lose the soldiers trailing behind us. He threw open a door, rushing up the stairs, axes in hand. We had exited near the Fortuna Court like usual, but the second I stepped out into the open air, I knew how they’d found us. The Court was on fire. Even through all of the time that Raffaele and Enzo had helped us, supplying us with funds and keeping our secrets safe, I knew that there was no way they could have resisted an entire army. We turned a corner, emerging onto a much-too-busy street. Every instinct in me was telling me to run, but I knew something was wrong. Not a second later, I saw them- Raffaele sitting on the steps of a nearby building next to a badly-injured Enzo. I quickly changed course, barely registering the shouts directed at me from the team. 

“Raffaele! What happened?” Enzo looked like he could barely sit up. Bruises littered his skin and blood dripped from his temple. 

“Lance! What are you doing here?! The Galra are coming after you, you have to go!”

“I-I can’t just leave you here!”

“You’re going to be next if you stay! I’ll get help for Enzo, but you have to run!” He gave me a shove with one arm, the other staying around the man next to him. I knew Raffaele was right, but seeing Enzo battered up like that made my heart ache. I gripped the bow in my hand tightly, nodding and slinging the quiver of arrows over my shoulder. I nocked an arrow onto the bowstring, running to catch up with the rest of the group. The upside to running through the streets was that the crowds of people offered a pretty good cover. The downside was that there were plenty of soldiers to join in on the chase. 

Coran and Allura somehow managed to exchange a few words before splitting up and running in opposite directions. It was smart, but it made it harder for not only the soldiers, but me as well. Weighing my options, I decided to chase after Coran and Hunk, watching the others disappear down a separate alleyway. My feet were killing me, every sharp pebble and piece of unidentified garbage stabbing my soles as I ran. Thank gods for Hunk and his way with animals. He had grabbed a nearby horse by its reins and started pulling it along, motioning for me to hop on it. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to mount a horse while it’s running, but let me tell you, it’s not fun. I finally got on top of the stupid animal, sobbing with relief as Hunk found another horse and I pulled Coran onto mine. 

Though the path was different than the one I had taken last time, I could tell where Coran was heading. The pawn shop. I snapped the reins, urging the horse to go faster, faster. The shop was on the edge of town, near the city walls. I could see why Coran wanted to hide out there. If it ever came to the point where we couldn’t stay in the city any longer, it wouldn’t be hard to get out. That thought alone was scary. I hadn’t really been many places in my lifetime. I lived in one city all my life, until I was captured. The catacombs were kind of my second home. I couldn’t imagine what life would be like if we ended up on the run. With the Galra controlling nearly the entire continent, where would we even go? The sound of shouting coming from behind me dragged me out of my thoughts.

“Coran? What’s going on? Is something happening?” I didn’t want to take my eyes off of the road in front of me, but the commotion got so loud, I couldn’t resist turning around. In a million years, I never would’ve expected what I saw. The soldiers that had been pursuing us were blocked by a horde of people- citizens. Shouts rang out as they did their best to get in the way of the men. I saw stones, crates, everything and anything being thrown through the air. I almost stopped the horse, if only to see it for a moment longer, but I knew I couldn’t. This opportunity was for _us_ , and hell if I wasn’t going to take it. 

Coran kicked the horse, spurring it on. We raced past crowds of people lining the streets. A resounding chorus of “The Young Elites” seemed to ring out in our wake, and I had the strange feeling of being in a parade. 

“Rainmaker!” Someone from the crowd shouted out my Elite name, lighting panic inside of me. I wasn’t wearing my mask, but upon inspection, none of us were. We were no longer stone-faced heroes, legends, or myths. We were human. We had faces, names, and we bled just like anyone else. The people finally seemed to realize that. I pulled the horse into the alleyway next to the pawn shop, jumping off and grinning breathlessly at Hunk. He had realized the same thing I had. We weren’t alone anymore. Coran knocked on the back door of the pawn shop, forgotten in the midst of the chaos. The guy from before, Magiano, answered and let us in.

“Thank gods you all are okay, I was out in town when they set the Fortuna Court on fire and I knew you all were in trouble. Come on, the others are in here.” Magiano led us up the stairs to what appeared to be a bedroom. Shiro sat with Pidge on the bed while Allura whispered to Adelina. 

“Coran! You’re here! I thought you might’ve…” He cut her off with a hug.

“I’m here, _Allura_. I’m here.” She gripped onto him tightly, like he would disappear if she let go. 

“So...what now?” Pidge’s voice was soft and she looked smaller than I had ever seen her.

“Now, we wait.” Allura stared out the grimy little window. “It’s too dangerous to go out now while they’re still looking for us, so we have to stay here. Adelina has graciously agreed to let us hide out here as long as necessary. 

“What?!” My voice was too loud and too sharp for the atmosphere. “So you’re saying that we just _hide_? Stay here and _give up_?”

“We’re not giving up, we’re just waiting until things die down. It’s a strategic decision.”

“Bullshit! We have to go back there!”

“Lance, it’s too dangerous. We don’t have the power. We already failed once,and that was while we were at our best! How are we supposed to win while we’re at our worst?”

“The Galra are at _their_ worst too! We weren’t the only ones who lost men in that fight! And...Magiano. You were in town, so you saw what was going on too.” Adelina stared at the taller man nervously.

“Magiano?” She asked apprehensively.

“Riots. The people are rioting.” In the silence I could hear the sounds of the people. They weren’t even that far away.

“The people are seeing us for the first time ever! They’re finally seeing our faces. They’re seeing that we’re human too. We aren’t the only ones that have been mistreated by the Galra. With all of this fighting, the military has been getting more money than anyone else. Taxes are going up, the prices of food are rising. The people have plenty to be angry about. You don’t get it, they’re on our side now.”

“Lance! We _absolutely_ can not go back there! We have to stay here and-”

“And what, Princess? Let Keith’s death be meaningless?!” Everyone took in a collective gasp, but I didn’t regret those words. “All of you have been such good friends to me- no. You’re my _family_. I _loved_ Keith. All he wanted was to make things right in the world so he could protect the ones he loved. And now he’s dead. There’s nothing we can do about that. But if we stay here and _give up_ , he died for _nothing_!” I was crying now, but no one was saying anything to stop me, so I kept going. “And that’s not it! All of those innocent _malfettos_ are on death row right now. _Pidge’s family_ is on death row and we’re not doing anything about it. Don’t you want to take down the people who have taken everything from you?! The people who took Shiro’s arm? The people who took your _entire country_? Don’t you-”

“Stop.” I froze where I stood, shaking. Shiro closed his eyes, placing his hand on the bed and slowly pushing himself up until he was standing. “I’ll go with you, Lance.” 

“What?!” No one in the room had been expecting that. 

“I’ll go with you. If you want to fight, I’ll fight right next to you, Lance.” I smiled at him  
.  
“Don’t be ridiculous, Shiro. You’re injured, you can’t possibly-”

“You have to admit he’s right, though.” Pidge stood up, taking off her glasses. 

“Yeah, I agree with Lance.” Hunk put his hand on my shoulder, sighing. 

“Princess?” Coran’s voice was gentle. Allura closed her eyes, taking in a shaky breath. It was the first time I had seen her so disheveled. There were circles under her eyes from the lack of sleep and she was covered in dust and dirt, though I supposed I didn’t look much better. 

“Okay. We leave at midnight. Until then, you all have to sleep. I am _not_ losing another one of you. Ever.” I nodded, smiling. The Princess looked at me tiredly, before giving me the saddest smile I had ever seen. We would leave at midnight.

* * *

Hunk Garrett, November 27

My sleep was short lived, as Pidge woke me up in the middle of the night. Right. That’s what we had agreed on. We definitely weren’t in the best situation when it came to making plans. The riots going on in the streets could still be heard, but it was impossible to tell how widespread they were. We had no information whatsoever on the state of the castle. For all we knew, the Galra could’ve completely regrouped and put security as their number one concern. We just assumed that they hadn’t because of the riots. For all we knew, the Galra could’ve called in soldiers from all around the Empire as backup. We just assumed that they hadn’t because they didn’t do that during our first attack. For all we knew, the Galra were fully armed and prepared for us to attack again. We just assumed that they hadn’t because we were currently in hiding. We just had to assume a lot of things and rely on our less-than-satisfactory luck.

“We’re just going to do this all ambush-style. Hunk can get us some horses, and we’ll ride them straight into town. As long as these riots are going on, we have to use them to our advantages. No masks. They have to see our faces. Lance was right when he said that the people are on our side now. If they can see who we really are, not criminals or Young Elites, but _people_ , we can get them to fight for us.” Allura stood around a table containing the only map of the city we had left. “Lance, are you a good enough shot to act as a sniper?” I looked over, to see him, the boy that I had pulled off the beach just months ago. So much had changed since then. Lance nodded, hands grasping the edge of the table.

It was strange to look back at a time like then. The first time I had seen Lance, he was on the brink of death, skinny and soft-skinned. I could see the lean muscle he had built up, the scars that littered his skin, the bloody bandage wrapped around his head. He hadn’t taken off the bloodstained white cloak since he had first put it on. Lance’s eyes were the same vibrant green and gold as ever, but they seemed hardened with something new. Determination, maybe. Losing Keith hadn’t been easy for him. I knew that much. The two had barely gotten over their differences and confessed their feelings when Keith died. Lance had every reason to be angry at the Galra, but I knew he blamed himself for it. If he hadn’t trusted Lotor, we might not have been in as bad of shape as we were. When I looked at him closely, I could even see that he was shaking. I stepped closer to him and put my arm around his shoulders. The shaking didn’t stop, but he let go of some of the tension, and I sighed.

“The job for the rest of us will be to get Lance as close to Zarkon as possible. We have to completely take over the palace, and it will be much easier once Zarkon is dead, but we also need to take out all other commanding officers. For that reason, if any of you see Haggar or Lotor...do not hesitate. I’ll use an illusion to get us inside, but after that, you’re all on your own. Any questions?” There was a collective head shake. “Okay. Let’s go.”

“Before you leave…” Adelina’s voice came from the hallway. Magiano stepped in, carrying a sword that looked as if it had never been used. Adelina held a similar one. “Take these with you. Shiro and Allura. There’s no way you’ll survive in there unarmed.” They each took a weapon, smiling. These two were the some of the best people in the city, their generosity unwavering. They even had a pair of boots Lance could borrow so he didn't have to fight barefoot. 

“Thank you so much for all of your help. We won’t forget you.” Magiano laughed at Shiro’s politeness. 

“There’s no need for that. Thanks to you, we’ll finally be able to leave here and live better lives. Now go. Win. Kill that bastard of an emperor.” Shiro smiled back as the man patted him on the back jovially. We left out the back door, doubling up on the horses I called. 

“Have fun storming the castle!” Coran and Allura took the lead, followed by Shiro and Pidge, with Lance and I in the back. Coran cracked the reins, urging the horse faster and faster through the streets. There seemed to be no end to the riots, people everywhere fighting against row after row of soldiers. Fires had started dotting the city, filling the air with smoke. Cheers began ringing out as the citizens noticed us rushing past. I did my best to dodge them, but soon found them making paths for us to get through. 

“Hunk, give me your mace.” I could barely hear Lance’s voice through the chaos. When it took me longer than it should’ve to hand him my weapon, I realized I was shaking too. It wasn’t fear or adrenaline, but some freakish mix of the two that left me feeling confused and excited. I had totally forgotten to ask why he needed my mace, but my question was soon answered as Lance raised it up in the air. The cheers grew louder and I spared a quick glance around. People were practically jumping up and down in the streets. They raised their makeshift weapons in defiance, and I got a glimpse of the smile on Lance’s face, as uninhibited and free as it had been when I first met him. I couldn’t help it anymore, I grinned, whooping as we raced through the crowds. This had to work. It had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boop boop, Princess Bride refrence


	12. Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The End of All Things.

**“I’m nothing special. I’m not a hero. I’m barely a man. I just want you to survive. You need that. You...you deserve that...So I want you to have that, even if I cannot.”**  
**-Arcadia Mahler, The Neighbors**

Takashi Shirogane, November 27

Surprisingly, despite the fact that we had been literally riding straight through town, everything on display, our attack seemed completely unexpected. Unsurprisingly, the castle had very few guards left. The riots had been steadily growing and the Galra must’ve assumed that we would remain in hiding. Well...they assumed wrong. My heart rate rose exponentially for every inch closer we came to the palace. I could see Pidge’s grin as she snapped the horse’s reins. 

“Shiro! Would you mind giving us a lift?” Coran looked back at me and I smiled. Though the anxiousness was present on his face, he knew it just as well as everyone else did. This time was going to be different. Even when Allura cloaked us all in invisibility, I could sense the energy of the others raging around me. I carefully brought the wind beneath each of us, lifting us above the steadily growing crowd outside the palace walls. We landed without a sound, although whether that was due to myself or the Princess was hard to tell. I should’ve expected what came next, but it still shocked me. Instead of having me take us to the ground, Allura removed the illusion covering us. It took no time at all for the people to see us, and the angry shouts from below me quickly turned to cheers of joy. 

I couldn’t speak for the rest of the team, but I would never get used to the praise. Ever since the fever, I had been treated like public enemy number one. During my time in the catacombs, I hadn’t talked to very many of the unmarked townspeople. The few I had known were supportive, giving us shelter or money when we needed it. I supposed I never realized that many of the Galra citizens weren’t happy with Zarkon either. In the end, they were no different from us. They had all lost something to the Empire, and wanted desperately to get it back. Standing on top of that wall, I had never felt less alone. 

“People of the Galra Empire!” Allura’s voice silenced the crowd. “I am the White Rose, a Young Elite, but you may know me better as Princess Allura of the lost nation of Altea. The Galra took everything from me, not only my country but my people, my _family_. Before you stands the Rose Society, comprised of Elites who, too have been beaten and bruised by your so-called Emperor. How many of you have also lost your own family to those disgusting murderers?” Shouts once again erupted from the crowd, and I heard the names of loved ones being thrown out in the air for all to hear. There wasn’t a person in this city who hadn’t witnessed the cruelty of the Galra. The Princess raised her hand, and the people went quiet once again. 

“And yet, you all have remained dormant while your Emperor continued to take more and more lives. _Malfettos_ are not the monsters, _they_ are!” The screaming was deafening. “The time to rise up is _now_! We are done letting our sons and daughters die because of the way that the gods made them! Zarkon dies tonight! The Empire falls _tonight_!” With her final words, she raised her sword into the air and I took that as my cue. I lifted us off of the wall and onto the palace grounds, and this time, we made a sound.

The soldiers blocking our way fell easily. They had probably gotten even less rest than we had. I suddenly remembered a comment Coran had made months ago. That the Galra fueled their military by draft. That we were killing men whose only choices were to fight or die. I had to fight back the sickness that the thought gave me. As we entered the doors, we were graced by the sight of an enraged Prince Lotor. His yellow eyes glowed with fury in the low light, sending a chill up my spine. When I remembered that this man was Keith’s murderer, my expression must’ve matched his. 

“Tch. You ‘Elites’ never know when to quit, do you?” He stepped forward, unsheathing a sword and looking towards Lance. “Maybe I’ll take another one of your lives before I imprison the rest. How about the pretty little Rainmaker over there?” Lotor twirled his sword in his hand and when he grinned, I could’ve sworn I saw a flash of fangs. “I should’ve killed you when I had the chance. Oh well. Better late than never, right?” Somewhere in the middle of his dramatic speech, Hunk had gotten around the Prince without him noticing. Lance smiled. 

“You’re right, Lotor. Late is better than never, but I’m afraid you’re not getting that either.” The man narrowed his eyes, smile dropping as he realized something was wrong. Unfortunately for him, he had noticed just a second too late, and Hunk swung his mace down, crushing the Prince’s hand. He yelled out in pain, dropping his sword to clutch his injured appendage.

“You insolent _demon_!” Lotor spat. “I’ll kill you!” Lance’s smile was gone, his eyes cold. He leveled his bow and nocked an arrow. 

“I don’t think you will.” And before the Prince could take another step, an arrow landed itself in his abdomen, and he fell to his knees. Hunk walked closer to him as he coughed up blood, but Lance put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from finishing the job. “No…” He looked down at Lotor, face blank. “Keep him alive as long as possible. I want him to suffer.” Hunk said nothing, only stepping away. The rational part of my brain said that this was a bad decision. That, for all we know, he would only be more trouble in the future. In the same voice, the part of my brain that held all my love for Keith was urging me to kick the fallen man while he was still down. In the end, I could do nothing, just standing there as Lance stared at the man who murdered his love.The Prince smiled. It was an awful smile, full of blood and teeth. It didn’t reach his eyes. And yet he laughed.

“Torture me all you want, _Lance_. It will achieve nothing. Your precious Reaper is gone. And there is _nothing_ you can do to bring him back. Well, actually...that’s not true. The witch Haggar specializes in a special type of magic that includes resurrection. And Zarkon has a little _surprise_ waiting for you in the throne room.” Lance went stock-still as Lotor laughed himself into a coughing fit. Coran came up behind him, hitting the man across the head with the blunt side of his axe.

* * *

Katie Holt, November 28

What was that supposed to mean? What ‘surprise’ was waiting for Lance? Was Lotor just lying to try to get under his skin? No, that wouldn’t make sense. What good would that do? Lotor knew he was as good as dead, and I doubted that he would just try to get one more laugh. (Especially with something as pathetic as that). And resurrection? That couldn’t possibly mean...no. It was too much of a stretch, and I was just projecting my emotions into my thoughts. I wanted Keith back as much as everyone else, and that must’ve gotten the better of me. As much as I wanted to deny it, Keith was gone. There was no way we could get him back. 

Coran ran ahead into the palace, throwing open doors and letting the rest of us through to fight what little remained of the castle’s guards. My powers were coming to me easier than ever, and I stole weapons with ease, cutting people up into pieces in a gruesome show of magic. Hunk was kicking some serious ass, and Lance was acting as the best sharpshooter I had ever seen. I had no idea where the throne room was, but trusted that I could pretty much just follow Allura and Shiro. I watched as the Princess twisted her hand, casting an illusion of pain so strong that the soldier fell to the ground. There was only determination in her eyes as she cut down man after man.

* * *

Lance McClain, November 28

“Lance, go!” Allura gestured to the door of what I assumed was the throne room before making sure I couldn’t be seen. I had to get up to the balcony quickly, she had warned before, because her powers, although strong, were not suited to work at a distance. I threw open the doors, astonished when neither Zarkon or the woman next to him noticed me enter. They were too far away to hit from here, so I ran up the stairs to the balcony that ran along the walls of the room. Doors lined the walls and I silently prayed that they were all empty, lest I have to fight someone and give away my location. 

I felt Allura’s energy disappear from around me, and I knew that it was go time. I ducked below the railing, trying to find a good vantage point to get the killing shot. I knew that Zarkon’s witch Haggar was a threat, but we had decided that the Emperor needed to go first. I propped my elbows up on the railing, taking a deep breath. The Emperor continued watching the door. I breathed out. I pulled the bowstring back, fingers brushing my face as I took one more deep breath and aimed. The Emperor didn’t look away from the door, no, but he _smiled_. _No._ I let go of the string a second too late, and the full weight of someone else’s body crashed into me, sending my arrow off course and my body over the railing.

* * *

Keith Kogane, November 28

_Kill the boy._ I pushed him over the railing. _Protect the Emperor._ His arrow veered off course, missing the Emperor by ten yards. Good. _Kill the boy._ He was still hanging onto the edge of the railing. Bad. _Kill the boy._ He was saying something. A name. Trying to reach out to me. I pushed his hands off, and he fell to the ground. Blood on marble. Good. He got back up. Bad. _Kill the boy._ I put my foot on top of the rail and pushed off, landing on the ground. Crunch. Oh well. _Kill the boy._ I stood back up, staring at the boy. He stared back at me. _Kill the boy._ My hands lit up with flames. My arms lit up with flames. I lit up with flames. I was on fire. Oh well. _Kill the boy._ Water fell from his eyes and he staggered back. Said the name again. _Keith._ What? _Keith._ He said it over and over again, amongst some other things. 

The boy reached his hand out, and I took it, flipping him around so he was pinned to the ground, my knee against his spine. _Kill the boy._ Someone else came into the room, and they started saying the name too. _Keith. Kill the boy._ It didn’t matter. I had to fulfill the orders. I was the Reaper. So said the Emperor. _Kill the boy._ The boy screamed underneath me as his flesh burnt. I was fire, inside and out. All I did was destroy. _Keith._ The name sounded different this time. Clearer. It was no longer a fuzzy sound in the back of my mind. It was here. In front of me. In my shock, I let the boy go and he scrambled away. Staying on the floor. He didn’t run. _Keith._ He said it again. _Keith._ And again. And he reached his hand up as the water- tears- flooded his face. His hand reached out and touched me. On the cheek. _Keith._ I was no longer on fire. His hand was so soft. What was this? _Kill the boy._ No. _Keith._ Yes. Oh, yes. This was Keith. I was Keith? I was Keith.

Oh. His face finally came into focus. I was Keith. And he was Lance. And I burst into tears. 

“Lance! Lance, Lance, Lance, Lance!” I fell into his arms and he squeezed me hard and I never wanted to let him go again. 

“Keith! You...you’re here. You’re here. I-I thought...I thought you were gone. You _were_ gone. I...I lost you.”

* * *

Takashi Shirogane, November 28

I burst into the room, everyone else right behind me. Keith was alive. _Keith was alive._ Gods be damned, he had somehow escaped the jaws of the underworld and made it back. Back to us. He and Lance sat on the floor, crying and crying. I realized that I was crying too. Oh well. As much as I wanted to go and hug him, there were more important matters. Mostly, the fact that neither Zarkon or Haggar had died yet. My eyes darted over to the witch who looked about ten seconds from killing everyone in the room. Luckily her rage distracted her enough that I could get behind her and put my sword to her throat in a way that was rather underwhelming. Allura had Zarkon in a similar position, but Haggar just laughed, looking between Zarkon and Keith.

“Go ahead and kill him.” Her voice was quiet and raspy. “You see, your friend the Reaper here was brought back, but at a price. His entire life force is now tethered to Zarkon. This meaning: if Zarkon perishes, the Reaper will meet the same fate.” Every muscle in my body froze. _No._

“No!” I couldn’t hold my voice back. Keith turned to me, sadness in his eyes and a smile on his face. Haggar laughed again. 

“Oh yes. And I have no need for the Emperor any longer. His reign over this land is long overdue to come to an end. I have no qualms about ruling all on my own, as I have lived much of my life alone anyways. So do it. Kill Zarkon.” I gripped the hilt of my sword, pressing it into her neck just far enough to draw blood. 

“If Zarkon dies, Keith dies too…” My breath was coming out in short pants as my heart raced. “But no one said anything about killing you.” I dug the blade in and sliced her throat open, dropping her to the floor. No one would miss her. Zarkon laughed. 

“Now that she's dead, I suppose you all should know the truth.” All eyes turned to the Emperor. “Allura, your mother, the Queen of Altea, disappeared at a young age, did she not?” Allura drew in a breath and spoke quietly.

“How do you know that?” The man sighed. 

“Your mother was not dead, as many presumed her to be. She had traveled to my Empire and we wed, much to your father’s displeasure.”

“You’re lying.”

“The Prince, Lotor, was born a year later. He is your brother, Allura. Only four years younger.”

“You’re lying!” 

“I had long known of her wish to take my throne. She wanted a nation, a land of her own, but in my youth I was reckless and would do anything I could to stop her. It all went sour, when I attempted to use an especially potent poison on her during one of our meals. Unfortunately, she was well aware of it, and used her powers to deflect the sickness onto someone one of the servants. The poison was _sangius mortem_ , which infected the blood. Little did she know that when the poison was transferred through the air, it became extremely contagious. This became known as the blood fever.”

“You…” This time, the voice came from across the room. Lance was there, and I could’ve seen him shaking from a mile away. “You were the one who started the fever! You were the reason my family died. The reason all of those innocent people died! You’re a monster!” Keith was holding onto him, their hands clenched together. 

“I’ve been called worse, and I’d be wrong to say I didn’t deserve it. It’s true I regretted that day very deeply, as did your mother. I made sure of it. The only reason I spread those misconceptions that _malfettos_ were to be feared and made laws against them was to punish her. I wanted to show her what happened when she messed with the rightful ruler of the Galra Empire. Haggar knew that all of those people were dying because of her, and she never once again made an attempt on my life. I considered it done. Until you showed up. When I heard the rumors of the White Rose, I knew it had to be you. You were one of only two people that shared her blood. It made sense that you would survive the fever. It also made sense that you would share the same thirst for my throne. That’s why I knew you had to be crushed. No one would threaten me and get away with it. And you still won’t. Not if you value the life of your friend.”

* * *

Lance McClain, November 28

“Lance.” I was shaking. It was hard to hear. The fever hadn’t been sent from the gods at all. No. Zarkon was responsible for it. All of it. And he was right there, Allura’s blade to his throat.

“Lance, you have to do it.” I stared down at the boy in my arms. Keith. He was blurry. Probably because I was crying. 

“No,” I whispered. I had lost two brothers to the fever that Zarkon had created. I still would not do it. I wouldn’t kill Keith.

“Lance.”

“No!”

“Lance, you can always find someone else. You _have_ to do it!”

“I’m not going to lose you again, Keith!” He clenched his eyes shut as the tears fell from my eyes. I was still shaking. There were so many people out there who had lost loved ones to the blood fever. So many children that had been executed under Zarkon’s orders. I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to give up Keith. If that was selfish, then I was the most selfish person in history. Because I didn’t care.

“Keith, I already lost you once, I can’t...I can’t..” I closed my eyes. “I can’t lose you. Not again. Not ever. I just... _please_ …” I felt the palm of his hand on my cheek, and I opened my eyes. Keith’s arms were sheathed in burns as if they were silk gloves instead of wounds. He had done so much. He had been through so much. I just couldn’t…

“Lance. Look at me.” My eyes met his, and my heart broke. “It’s okay.” His other hand held onto mine, and I nodded, closing my eyes. 

“Emperor Zarkon of the Galra Empire,” Allura’s voice shook as she spoke “I am the White Rose, a Young Elite, but I am also Princess Allura of the lost nation of Altea. The Galra took everything from me, not only my country but my people, my _family_. Before you stands the Rose Society, comprised of Elites who, too have been beaten and bruised by your so-called _Empire._ You remained dormant while your soldiers continued to take more and more lives. _Malfettos_ are not the monsters, _you_ are. We are done letting our sons and daughters die because of the way that the gods made them. _You_ die tonight. The Empire falls _tonight_!”

A single tear slipped out of Keith’s eye as the sound of Zarkon’s head hitting the floor echoed throughout the room. 

“Lance. I love you.” Just like that, Keith was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aren't you glad I didn't make Lance shoot Keith with a crossbow? *squints at Marie Lu*


	13. Finale II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's left?

**Epilogue**

Lance McClain, One Year Later

It was unbelievably hot out. Like, what the hell? It was November! I sat on top of my hill, legs crossed. My eyes were closed as the wind blew through my hair. I had been growing it out. I had moved back to Saudaterra to live with my family. Things were different between us than they had been before, but seeing them again made it feel like the world was off my shoulders. And, to some extent, it was. After Allura took over Zarkon’s throne, she technically took over the entire continent. This meant that she could keep _malfettos_ safe no matter where they were. We didn’t have to fight anymore. _I_ didn’t have to fight anymore. 

I had given up my grudge against Lotor, and he was publicly executed. Not that I went to see it. Pidge had found her father and brother, and her mother had come to live in the capitol with them. Apparently, her brother and Shiro went way back. Shiro decided to stay in the palace with Allura, and he became her unofficial right-hand man. Maybe something more, too. Hunk was running a blacksmith shop somewhere in the city and living it up with his mother and this girl Shay that he had fallen in love with. I was the only who chose to move away. Luckily, news spread fast, and the fact that the Rainmaker was their son made it much easier for my parents to trade. We didn’t have to worry about money anymore. Yay. 

I took a deep breath in. Keith’s rusty old compass sat in front of me. Apparently, it was the only thing of his that had survived from when the Galra invaded the catacombs. Coran told me Keith’s stories about his father. How he didn’t remember the guy much, but the compass was one of the only things he had to remember him by. Strange how you keep learning about a person even after they die. I had been covering my burn scars up with bandages for a while. They were fully healed, but it was hard to look at them all the time. It was only my back and my hands, but it was a painful reminder. The day’s date had been giving me hell for the past month. It was always there, in the back of my mind. Keith had died a year ago. Well, for the second time. I guess I could’ve been mourning him way earlier if I wanted to, but I didn’t really want to. This kinda stuff hurt, you know?

I had dubbed this hill mine because of how often I came up here. There was a nice view of the ocean, and I could usually come to just be alone. Every now and then, one of my siblings climbed up and sat with me, but they were rare occasions. Mostly on the days we mourned my dead brothers. But right then, I was alone. Or at least, I thought I was.

“Are you Lance?” My eyes snapped open at the unfamiliar voice. I turned to see a woman looking straight at me, her gaze intense. She had yellow eyes, like most of the Galra. She had unruly jet-black hair that fell all the way down to her waist. 

“Yes.” She nodded absently, looking out towards the ocean. 

“Can I sit?” She gestured to the spot next to me and I nodded. The grass was already long gone, leaving just dirt and bugs. She looked too pretty to sit somewhere with dirt and bugs, but I decided not to say anything. The woman was dressed mostly in black, a red bracelet around her wrist the only color she showed. For a minute, I just watched as she assumed a position similar to the one I was in before: eyes closed, back straight, legs crossed. “It’s too hot out today.”

“It is.” I agreed. She finally opened her eyes again and looked at me. 

“Lance, would you believe me if I said that I had a son that died on this day?” I froze, looking at the woman. She was serious. 

“Yes.” She sighed wistfully. I felt the same way.

“My name is Vega Kogane. When my son was two years old, I moved to the Galra Empire to look for work. I found a job fighting as a gladiator and would send money back to my family to help them. That’s where I met the Princess. When he was thirteen, the fever hit and the Emperor instilled a travel ban for everyone except for licensed merchants. When he was fourteen, they limited communication with other countries and put up laws against _malfettos_. It was then that I joined the Blade of Marmora.” I suppressed a gasp. This woman was in the Blade? She chuckled. “I know, I don’t quite look it now, but I used to be quite the fighter. It was half a year later that I was caught trying to help some _malfettos_ escape their execution. Luckily, I was able to escape my own execution and flee south. I stayed there until I deemed it safe to come back, which just happened to be when the Queen took over. I suppose I have to thank you.” Vera closed her eyes again. I understood why. It was much easier than looking around the world that had hurt you so much. 

“Why?”

“...What?”

“Why are you thanking me? I couldn’t even,” I choked. “I couldn’t even save him.”

“That’s true.” Boy, was she blunt. “I talked to Queen Allura when I got back, and she told me about him. About Keith. Apparently he became an ‘Elite’ which meant he had special powers. His power was controlling fire, which was pretty appropriate.” She was crying now, but I wouldn’t have known if I didn’t look at her. Her voice was completely calm. I looked back at the ocean. I couldn’t watch other people cry. “Even when he was just a baby, he had that fire in him, hah." She recited Keith’s tale of what happened to him. "Apparently, my husband had died of the fever. Keith, the lucky boy, only lost his eye. He lived on his own, and I felt so bad for leaving him alone. If I had known...well. I don’t know. The Queen said that she rescued him and some others form the Galra, and that you were with them. That your name was Lance, and you were the Rainmaker. That you could control the water, that you were the best sharpshooter she ever had...and that you were in love with Keith.” Now I was crying too. Facing the ocean. 

“All of that is true.”

“You hold the rain within you, Lance. I can see it now. Swirling and turbulent, yet calming at the same time. Keith had the fire. Warm and comforting, it would destroy you if you got too close. You were simultaneous extreme opposites, and yet, you were perfect. Takashi, the Queen’s lover, told me that you made him happy. _That_ is why I’m thanking you Lance.” Vega placed her palm on my face, wiping away the stray tears. “Nothing in this life is promised, Lance. We are all just wandering stars, dancing across the sky at night, bumping into each other by accident, and maybe, just maybe, creating something amazing. Keith was that red giant, and he was gone too soon, but he was yours and the two of you created something so amazing that it won’t be forgotten for centuries. You saved so many people, Lance. And you may not have saved Keith, but you made his life great, which is more than I can say for myself. You have your whole life ahead of you, Lance. Use it to its fullest, and make him proud.” I nodded, looking down. Vega Kogane stood up, kissed me on the head, and walked out of my life as suddenly as she had came.

But she was right. About all of it.

Fate and destiny were just things that quack fortune tellers used to make money. Real life was different. It was accidental and deliberate. It was contradictory. No one really knew what it was, but that was okay. Because we were all just wandering stars in the night sky, waiting to bump into someone else and create something amazing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading all the way to the end. This was the first big writing project I've ever finished, and it means so, so much to me. Thank you to every person who subscribed, left a comment or kudos, or didn't even do anything. Whether you loved it or hated it, taking your time to read my work makes me so eternally grateful, to a degree that I can't express. Just, thank you. Again and again, thank you. If you'd like to find me on twitter, I'm @mc_words_


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